It’s an easy assignment to review a movie like "The Verdict". Why? Because it is consistently well made; it makes sense and does not rely on convenient plot devices; there are no car chases; the acting and direction are absolutely top notch – more of this later Once met, Frank Galvin is a lawyer you will not forget. He tests our sense of humanity – yes, we are asked to feel something for a lawyer who has clearly seen better times. He’s an alcoholic, and in some respects that’s the outcome of most of his problems – the source is less clear, though there are incidents aplenty: he’s nearly been drummed out of the lawyer’s union; he’s divorced, and it was not pretty; there have been lost professional opportunities. So why should we feel anything but disgust? After all, shouldn’t a lawyer like Frank Galvin find himself another profession, or take an extended "rest" at the seaside? Well, he has an office of sorts – true, he’s not there much, just picking up the mail and then off to a pinball parlour before another session at the pub, and if he’s really lucky, a little female companionship. To the rescue, although he’s no white knight, comes Mickey Morrissey. He’s the sort of friend we all want – full of tough love, but in the end willing to come through for a mate who has really lost his way. The salvation comes in the shape of a negligence suit. A woman patient in a hospital has suffered terrible brain injury because of a botched operation, and all Frank’s friends expect him to do is settle the case out of court and collect his one-third fee. And thus begins Frank Galvin’s greatest journey, though it will be unexpected and hazardous (as all the best cinematic journeys are). The turning point comes when Galvin visits the hospital where the young woman, his client, is in a coma – it’s not the woman he comes face to face with, of course, but himself. Is this what he has come to, making telephone calls to settle a person’s life with less interest than the next round of scotch? It is a defining moment, and everything that happens can be traced back to this encounter. The movie doesn’t take the easy way out – in lesser hands, it might have been your standard tale of courage, where the hero pulls himself back from the brink just in time to save the world. In "The Verdict" we are asked to look at the moral dilemmas that accompany Galvin’s desperate attempt for resurrection. Does he confuse his job – getting a settlement for the comatose woman – with his own salvation? And if so, is this right, or is it Galvin’s job to take the money (on behalf of his client) and not take a legal gamble that might prove disastrous? So this is a long way from your average court room thriller, but this only serves to make the court room the absolute focus of our attention – Galvin cannot save himself if he cannot win the case! There is much at stake here. This is not a criticism, but if you want an edge-of your-seat thriller in the vein of "The Firm", this may not be the movie for you (though it would be a pity to miss it). If there’s any real criticism of this movie, it’s that it takes itself a bit too seriously, and the dialogue is too important. There are certainly serious issues on trial here, but you have to wonder whether all the sympathy for Galvin is worth it! After all, he wasn’t much of a lawyer, and he did do a good job of stuffing up his life! So this movie is about a negligence case that Frank Galvin is meant to "settle" – what does all this mean? "Negligence" is a court action that is based on what is called "torts" – which is a branch of the law that deals with the duty that citizens owe to each other. So, in this movie, it deals with the duty that doctors owe to their patients. To prove that the doctor has treated the young woman in the story in a negligent manner, Frank has to prove that the doctor or hospital owed a duty to their patient (which all hospitals do); that they breached that duty to act with care; and that the young woman suffered some damage because of that action (well, she’s in a coma!). Most importantly, the damage she suffered must have been foreseeable. So, if she was in a coma because of a reaction to surgery that was rare and could not have been foreseen, the hospital would not be liable for her condition. What is the standard of the care - the hospital or surgeon must act with reasonable skill. What does it mean for a lawyer to "settle" a case? This means the dispute is resolved without the intervention of a court (or it’s settled before the court case is finished). Sidney Lumet is justifiably lionised as one of the great post-war directors. His repertoire is truly impressive, and ambitious, crossing boundaries and styles that have rarely been duplicated. He’s the force behind "Dog Day Afternoon", the brilliant Al Pacino drama; "Serpico" (same actor); "Long Day’s Journey Into Night" with Katherine Hepburn; "Network" with Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway; "The Pawnbroker" with Rod Steiger; and "Fail Safe", with Henry Fonda perched on the edge of destruction. David Mamet wrote this movie. He is best known as an American playwright who dabbles in Hollywood – he also wrote "The Untouchables", which made it a cut above the rest. You should check out the more than interesting "House of Games", which he directed and wrote – we know people who have raved about that film. He also wrote the play and film script for "Glengarry Glen Ross", which starred Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, and Alec Baldwin. Paul Newman went from the navy to Broadway – he met his second (and still wife) Joanne Woodward in the production of "Picnic". From there it was off to Hollywood and the unbelievable Roman costume drama "The Silver Chalice" – this film only remains known as Newman’s debut, and would otherwise have long gone to the movie junkyard. But "Somebody Up There Likes Me" followed – this is the story of world champion boxer Rocky Graziano, and is everything "Rocky" would like to be. Do yourself a favour and see this – it would be available on videocassette in many larger video stores. There were other classic performances to follow – see all of these: "The Hustler", a brilliant study of obsession and pool halls; "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", the Tennessee Williams plays put to film; "Cool Hand Luke", one of the best prison movies of all time ("what we have here is a failure to communicate"); "The Long Hot Summer"; "The Young Philadelphians, another film about lawyers worth seeing when it next comes to television; "Exodus", where he’s a little miscast but still manages to bring epic drama to the story of the birth of Israel; Hitchcock’s "Torn Curtain"; the Western "Hombre"; the classic Western comedy "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"; "The Sting"; "Absence of Malice", where he plays a man intent on revenge; Scorsece’s "The Colour of Money", with Tom Cruise, a sequel to "The Hustler"; "Mr and Mrs Bridge; "The Hudsucker Proxy", terrible title but good film with Tim Robbins; and the wonderful "Nobody’s Fool" wit Jessica Tandy. He was nominated 6 times for a Best Actor Oscar before he won in 1986 for "Colour of Money" – he has since been nominated again. And for good money, he owns a massively successful salad dressing company that donates all its profits to charity. James Mason began his career as an architect, but it was the stage that got his interest. It was in England that he hit it big with "The Man In Grey", in which he played the Marquis of Rohan. He continued to play the sophisticated Englishman (or Bostonian or someone with an elegant accent, a poor man’s Cary Grant) after he went to Hollywood. He is probably best known as Judy Garland’s mentor, Norman Maine, in "A Star Is Born" (not the terrible Barbara Streisand remake). It is always the voice we remember – a voice to die for! See also Hitchcock’s "North By Northwest" and "Lolita". Jack Warden was best known in his early days for another great court room thriller, "Twelve Angry Men", also directed by Sidney Lumet, and starring the brilliant Henry Fonda. He can be seen on video with Warren Beatty in "Heaven Can Wait", where he plays the football coach (also worth seeing). Charlotte Rampling is not a household name, though that would seem to have been by her own choice, because she has everything needed to succeed in Hollywood. She has opted instead for European films, ("The Damned", "The Night Porter") – great presence, great voice, beautiful face. There is rarely an occasion to criticise Paul Newman, and this is no exception. Where he had to look like a young lion ("Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", "Somebody Up There Likes Me", "Cool Hand Luke") he was; where he was asked to be the older gun ("Butch Cassidy", "The Sting") that was no problem; now he is required to be the over-the-hill lawyer who shows the ravages of his unfortunate ways, and he pulls that rabbit out as well. It’s a bit of a shock to see a grizzled and drained Paul Newman, but he is completely believable as the drunken Frank Galvin, with rheumy eyes and the sunken look of a man with everything to regret and nothing left to gain. Newman is marvellous – he was nominated for an Academy Award, but was beaten by Ben Kingsley in "Gandhi (how times have changed – the rest of the competition that year included Jack Lemmon, Dustin Hoffman, and Peter O’Toole). Newman is that rarest of actors – never less than excellent, sometimes plain brilliant. He makes the character of Frank Galvin, maybe especially because it is Paul Newman – Galvin has seen better days, and it is impossible to watch Newman and not recall the days when the face was tighter and the body was a coiled spring. Jack Warden is not a name that springs to mind, but he is just great as Galvin’s old law partner. You’ll know him when you see him, and you will not be able to remember a bad performance from this character actor. Charlotte Rampling goes a long way with those bedroom eyes. She exudes a strange ambivalence, and we are never quite sure what to make of her (until it becomes obvious). The great James Mason, in one of his last screen appearances, is everything you want from an Evil One. We’ve met lawyers like him before at Law in the Lounge, and he does it with the flourish of an actor who once duelled with swords in "The Prisoner of Zenda" and "The Return Of The Scarlett Pimpernel". He received an Academy Award nomination for this part. The ending is great – worth waiting for, and worthy of further thought – is he still drinking? Not? What did you think? This movie tends to go on a bit, but it is a superior drama with its heart in the right place. The acting is top of the line, the cast uniformly excellent, the direction is taut, and the script is at time brilliant and always interesting. Clearly we liked it a lot! And it is such a pleasure to spend a couple of hours in the company of Paul Newman, who makes the plot quite believable and compelling. This movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture; Actor (Newman); Supporting Actor (James Mason); Director (Sidney Lumet); and screenplay (Mamet). Want us to tell you when we review another movie? Read this: The legal information contained above is intended to be general information about the law. It is not a substitute for legal and other professional advice. Lawscape Communications P/L does not accept responsibility for loss to any person, who either acts or does not act because of this information. |