Verdict

Pros: Newman, Supporting Cast, Direction
Cons: None

Despite being about a court case, The Verdict is really about a washed up attorney's decision to go to trial on behalf of his client, rather than taking the easy way out and accepting a cash settlement from the powerful defendant.

Paul...

Pros: Great acting and well-directed movie.
Cons: may be too slow-paced for some

I enjoy watching mysteries and court cases so when I saw the movie The Verdict about 10 years ago I felt it was an interesting story to watch. After I watched it I knew I had made the correct choice.

The cast of actors/actresses in the...

Pros: Mamet, Lumet and cast.
Cons: This missing witness.

I first became aware of David Mamet's writing ability back in university. I was watching a repeat of a Hill Street Blues episode that was riveting, and I checked the credits at the end to see who wrote it. He quickly rose through the ranks and his name ...

Pros: Good performance from Paul Newman
Cons: Lack of legal and moral conflict, bland direction

Sidney Lumet's direction is never very flashy. In fact, I would sometimes call it downright boring. He uses extremely minimal to non-existent musical score, and for entire long sequences the camera stand stationary as the actors speak. Sometimes he even...

Pros: Newman was great, great story!
Cons: None

Sidney Lumet directed The Verdict, a wonderful courtroom drama about a "down and out" nearly alcoholic attorney that takes on the biggest case of his career. The case was a wrong injury case of a young woman, by doctors in a Catholic Church...

Pros: It has an ending
Cons: Vile, stupid and deceptive

"The Verdict" has been oft-praised as a "gripping courtroom drama" that "rips away the underside of a corrupt legal system" yet demonstrates how the underdog can "prevail over heartless corporate greed".

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Pros: Newman, as always
Cons: ......

Frank Galvin is a drunk. No other way to state that fact. Formerly a brilliant attorney, the bottle has taken Frank's career, his wife and his respect. Reduced to handling low life cases, Frank desperately needs a break. A friend steps in and offers...

Pros: Paul Newman and a great script
Cons: Predictable, as most legal dramas are.

Frank Galvin (Paul Newman) was, at one time, a promising young attorney, but alcoholism has since turned him into a pitiful, ambulance-chasing shell of his former self. His old friend, Mickey (Jack Warden), another lawyer, has thrown a good case his...

Pros: Occasional spasms of good acting from some of the supporting cast.
Cons: Biased and unrealistic

This opinion is going to analyze and critique the movie's plot; don't read on if you don't want spoilers.

In "The Verdict," Paul Newman's character, a lawyer by the name of Frank Galvin, is a drunk good-for-nothing. His partner hands him a...

Pros: Acting, Characters, Plot, Dated
Cons: Early pacing issues, details

It seems this is my week for reviewing works by David Mamet (I reviewed Glengarry Glen Ross yesterday). In this case, I have to say it's a pleasure to view his work. "The Verdict," while begining with a stiflingly slow pace, certainly rose to the...

Pros: Case on the woman who was a vegetable went to court.
Cons: A real bummer that this case was never solved, therefore, there was no verdict.

This was the story of a woman who was over medicated by her own doctor while she was in the hospital resulted in her becoming a vegetable.

The case went to court and the jurors went over and over the case. They even spent practically the...

Pros: excellent writing, acting, direction, cinematography
Cons: too complex for children

The Verdict is the type of film that causes you to think, "They don't make 'em like this anymore."

After Sidney Lumet commissioned playwright David Mamet to write the script for "The Verdict" back in the late 70's, the...

Pros: Tale of redemption and justice hard fought. Gloomy New England settings.
Cons: Might take more than one viewing to become clear. Gloomy New England settings

I've always liked Paul Newman. He's been a favorite since I saw him in "Cool Hand luke". I must have seen "The Verdict" 10 times over the years and I don't usually do that. The reason I watched this particular movie so many times is...