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Movies / On DVD / The Verdict
The Verdict

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The Verdict (1982)

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Reviews Counted:24

Fresh:23

Rotten:1

Average Rating:7.7/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Sidney Lumet directs Paul Newman as an alcoholic lawyer whose once-promising legal career is on the skids and who gets and one last chance to prove himself in this tense courtroom drama. Frank... Sidney Lumet directs Paul Newman as an alcoholic lawyer whose once-promising legal career is on the skids and who gets and one last chance to prove himself in this tense courtroom drama. Frank Galvin (Newman) can't even scare up clients anymore until a colleague Mickey Morrissey (Jack Warden) helps him out by passing a routine malpractice case his way. Frank is just going through the motions until he meets the victim, a woman who has suffered complications during childbirth and is now reduced to a permanently comatose state. Rejecting the Catholic hospital's offer of a financial settlement, Frank decides to take the case to court, battling both for his client's rights and for his own dignity. Newman gives the finest performance of his career. James Mason is perfect as Edward J. Concannon the slimy lawyer for the defense. David Mamet provides the face-paced, honest, and suspenseful screenplay. Shot sparsely in gray tones in the cold climate of a Boston winter, the film was deservedly nominated for five Academy Awards. [More]

Starring: Paul Newman, Jack Warden, Charlotte Rampling, James Mason

Starring: Paul Newman, Jack Warden, Charlotte Rampling, James Mason, Milo O'Shea

Director: Sidney Lumet

Director: Sidney Lumet
Screenwriter: David Mamet
Producer: David Brown

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jun 4, 2002

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Verdict

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Sidney Lumet directs effectively, keeping the tension strong, and unfolding David Mamet's intelligent screenplay slowly but with maximum impact.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/30/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide

There are many fine performances and sensitive moral issues contained in The Verdict but somehow that isn't enough to make it the compelling film it should be.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 1 Comment
06/30/08
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Paul Newman goes into court a drunken bum and comes out a better man in this superb legal drama about a man finding redemption.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
06/30/08
Channel 4 Film

Sidney Lumet's direction, like David Mamet's patchy script, may not be quite good enough to justify the Rembrandt-like cinematography of Edward Pisoni and the brooding mood of self-importance, but it's good direction nonetheless.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/30/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
04/15/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Not an action flick by any means, The Verdict is a slow burn from frame one to the end.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
09/09/07
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

A cynical and gripping courtroom drama.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/02/07
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

David Mamet's script is a bit theatrical for courtroom drama, but it's Paul Newman's nuanced performance, and the direction of Lumet, who uses silences and pauses as eloquently as dialogue, that distinguish the picture.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
10/21/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Newman gives a brilliant performance in this powerful David and Goliath tale of a sad man's quest for redemption in the face of despair. Newman, director Lumet and the film itself all should have won an Academy Award, but sadly didn't.

comment Comment
02/16/06
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com

The first courtroom drama in years to recapture the brilliance of the form.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out

The performances, the dialogue and the plot all work together like a rare machine.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
08/27/04
David Poland
David Poland
Hot Button

No review available.

comment Comment
06/05/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

No review available.

comment Comment
02/09/04
James O'Ehley
James O'Ehley
Sci-Fi Movie Page

O.K. courtroom drama, electrified by great Newman performance

comment Comment
01/23/04
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

O roteirista David Mamet provou seu talento inquestionável já em seu segundo longa-metragem – e as magníficas atuações de Newman e Mason elevaram ainda mais seu trabalho.

comment Comment
11/25/03
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

No review available.

comment Comment
08/21/03
John Esther
John Esther
Pasadena Weekly

Overrated potboiler with preposterously innacurate courtroom scenes. But Newman is great.

comment 1 Comment
06/20/03
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

No review available.

comment Comment
08/09/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

No review available.

comment Comment
08/05/02
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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