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The Verdict [1982]


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Jurisprudence can be changed, if not by a judge at least by a jury
Review date: 2008-10-28 Rating: 10 out of 10

In many ways it is a great film. It is a film about justice and how crooked it is. Justice is not interested in truth but in respecting some procedures, some rules that only aim at protecting the powerful. The flaw in that system is not the judges who are unbreakable walls keeping the defense counselors of the victims in their place, which is in the margin of the case. The flaw is the jury when there is one and when this jury is not crooked, bought up, bribed or simply afraid. This jury has all powers they can dream of in their hands as for making justice and making the law, the common law of jurisprudence. But what can a jury be afraid of? Many things. In this film it is not the racial problem. It is not the social problem either. This case has to do with hospitals and medicine and doctors. The fear is enormous because these jurors could be patients one day in the hands of the very doctors they are trying for negligence and malpractice. And that is the argument of the film. A judge can accept a surprise witness and even a document that he should not accept to cover his back in case the defense should appeal his decision, the court's decision or even question his competence and fairness. But in the end he crosses out the witness and the piece of evidence she was bringing because a certain procedure and a certain jurisprudence was at stake, though he could have decided to go over it since jurisprudence can be changed by any decision of any court or judge, and in that case the doctors and their lawyers could not have appealed since then the lethal witness would not have been a surprise witness any more, but part of the investigation. But it goes beyond these simple facts. The lawyers of the doctors are bribing everyone when they can, especially the nurses who witnessed the negligence and malpractice. They even pay a spy to infiltrate the defense lawyer's office of the doctors' victim. In other words they are rotten. They don't do their best. They win. At least they do all they can to win no matter what, no matter how. And that's when the flaw in the system works properly for once and the doctors are severely convicted and sentenced. But, the film is sad, very sad indeed. For one case to work like this one in a film, in virtual reality, how many work the other way round in real reality? The film is all the more efficient in our own minds because the lawyer of the victim, played by Paul Newman, is shown to be completely at a loss in front of life, unsure, unsafe and definitely decomposed to the point of appearing as a failure due to some past and present circumstances. His doubts are our doubts and if we doubt it's good for justice and for us because we may not believe any more and we may require proof and evidence and certainty about the fairness of that justice whose flaw works for us, the victims, one every so often in a blue moon.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines


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Reviews


MARVEL AT THE MAVERICK
Review date: 2008-09-28 Rating: 10 out of 10

this is a hard-hitting and truly honest look-brutally so most of the times-at both american health-care and judiciary and it takes 2 geniuses to give the final verdict -the system is so flawed it is futile to ask for fairness -unless you know how to extricate it ,which happens if you come across a rarity -a honest professional -whether in medicine or law.

It might be rare but lumet and paul newman have delivered a seething satire and brilliant drama which is so unassuming in it's realistic portayals that you feel like experiencing the milieu of repugnant lies and vapid corruption -the truth is obscure but lumet shines with his genius and paul newman proves why he is the greatest actor ever from american screen -the movie is so posthumously brilliant that you are stunned every time you see this masterpiece -that it tends to look at the darker aspects of the american dream while balancing it with reality makes it even more affective and incredibly intelligent -this is an artistic peak in american cinema for two giants .

charlotte rampling is the feminine foil and she is spledid as the reluctant and silently repentant victim of circumstances-they all come together in a final act which blows your mind away to leave you shattered with emotion and awe-in an artistic explosion .

usman khawaja

Overrated
Review date: 2008-05-10 Rating: 4 out of 10

These reviews are way off the mark!Has to be one of the most boring,depressing films i have ever seen!
I don't care if it won an oscar.Could only possibly be interesting if you are involved in the study of law(medical negligence).
Hard to watch.

Redemption is the sense of duty
Review date: 2007-12-18 Rating: 10 out of 10

Newman plays an excellent drunk, even cracking an egg into an 8am beer to start his day. This is a dim looking movie, shot during a cold winter in Boston. There are no great shots, or even any emotionally-rousing speeches, but this is Lumet's style. It is plodding and we see into the life of a lawyer on the ropes. James Mason is perfect as the slimy defense lawyer. Newman is constantly underestimated because of past failures. He is a drunk, but he still has some tricks up his sleeve.

Lumet's little known film of corruption and embezzlement
Review date: 2006-10-15 Rating: 10 out of 10

The Verdict is one of Sidney Lumet's most illumionit films he has made in his mixed bag of work produced over an incredible near 50 and still going, but recently resurrected career. Released in 1982, it was adapted from the novel by the late Barry Reed.

Frankie Galvin, who is a tough Irish-American citizen, has had controversy surrounding his entire career and is in a downward spire, now an alcholic, he spends the majority of his time in a bar playing the pinball machine to seek chances to improve his current situation. His working partner has had enough and gives him a difficult open and shut case as a final grace, where a woman and supporting husband are fighting against a religious hospital for the death of her sister.....

Paul Newman plays the title role, in a sort of comeback opportunity, after impressing Oscar with his previous role alongside Sally Field in Absence of Malice. Famous for his rebel and radicals characters, his performance makes the film enough to buy on it's own. Newman relies on his eyes, throughout especially in one pivotal scene, his fierce temper, his confusion and his sadness all rolled into one. He also brings out the worst in Galvin as a drousy, arragent selfish man, who cannot understand the importance of his career, but also who has feels letdown by his own law force "who only care for the dollar". The supporting cast of Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason and especially Milo O'Shea as the judge who notouriously guilt-ridden works well.

I only understood what The Verdict was bringing across to me, on the fifth viewing. It is a story of redemption, also targeting on corruption and embezzement and also a religious piece, the quote "act as ye have faith" is the most basic information that tells you this. Sidney Lumet's direction slowly reveals the personality, also the vicious mood swings of Galvin and the troubling case.

The Verdict is very sad and too emotional for many film fans. Newman's performance was so strong, a group of his fans caused outrage at his loss at the Oscars in 1983 saying it was the best performance of the year. Now that Newman has retired from acting, this now stands as his arguably finest performance from the screen.






Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Milo O'Shea
Charlotte Rampling
James Mason
Paul Newman
Jack Warden

Creators:
Paul Newman (Primary Contributor)
Charlotte Rampling (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036022194
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-07-18
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 124 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1982
Language: English (Original Language)

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