SIDNEY LUMET

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBBB.5. 

USA, 1982.   Twentieth Century Fox.  Screenplay by David Mamet, based on the novel by Barry Reed.  Cinematography by Andrzej Bartkowiak.  Produced by David Brown, Richard D. Zanuck.  Music by Johnny Mandel.  Production Design by Edward Pisoni.  Costume Design by Anna Hill Johnstone.  Film Editing by Peter C. Frank.  

Watching one man go against conspiratorial corruption hasn’t been this intense since Alfred Hitchcock sent a crop duster after Cary Grant.  In this case it’s a superb Paul Newman as an alcoholic over-the-hill attorney who gets one last chance to make a comeback in the big courtroom (this was during the days before John Grisham’s novels, so this type of character wasn’t quite the stereotype it is today). The case he gets to try is one involving a malpractice suit against two well-respected doctors whose negligent anesthesiology on a woman in labour has sent her into a lifelong coma. The hospital offers Newman a settlement, but he feels he owes it to the girl not to sell out but to take the case to trial.  James Mason plays the corporate lawyer who pulls out all the stops to make sure he wins; but is he a match for human truth?  Charlotte Rampling is strong but wasted as the love interest with her own little secret (though it’s no big surprise; just look at how high she’s billed in the credits and you’ll know what the secret is).

Academy Award Nominations:  Best Picture; Best Actor (Paul Newman); Best Supporting Actor (James Mason); Best Director (Sidney Lumet); Best Adapted Screenplay

Golden Globe Award Nominations:  Best Picture-Drama; Best Actor-Drama (Paul Newman); Best Supporting Actor (James Mason; Best Director (Sidney Lumet); Best Screenplay