accessAtlanta

City & State or ZIP Tonight, this weekend, May 5th...
City & State or ZIP
City & State or ZIP Tonight, this weekend, May 5th...
City & State or ZIP

'Find Me Guilty': Unlikely pair create guilty pleasure


Palm Beach Post

Vin Diesel and Sidney Lumet. Now there are two names you never expected to see in the same sentence.

But sure enough, the mouth-breathing star of The Fast and the Furious and the veteran director of countless social dramas have indeed teamed up for Find Me Guilty, the story of a mob trial so ludicrous that it has to be true.

Yari Film Group

'Find Me Guilty'

B

The verdict: A tongue-in-cheek mob trial with Diesel acquitting himself as an actor.

Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Vin Diesel, Peter Dinklage, Annabella Sciorra, Richard Portnow, Linus Roache
Run time: 125 minutes
Release date: March 17, 2006
Rating: R for strong language and some violence.
See showtimes

On the web
Official movie site
View the trailer
   Trailers require Quicktime

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Not surprisingly, Diesel gains more from the collaboration than Lumet does. Though Find Me Guilty is a cut below such Lumet courtroom classics as The Verdict and Twelve Angry Men, it is a highly watchable, albeit lightweight, slice of New Jersey crime family life. And certainly, Diesel gives his best performance yet as often-imprisoned "Jackie Dee" DiNorscio, with all other of his performances tied for a distant second.

What makes DiNorscio stand out from the twenty other defendants at this marathon trial in the late '80s is his ill-advised decision to defend himself. It is, however, the best thing about the movie, as he cajoles the jury and scores his legal points, knowing a few of the tenets of law from his previous arrests.

Ron Silver makes an aptly anguished Judge Finestein, amused and trying to keep his temper at the same time. Also a standout is diminutive Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent), who brings such dignity to the role of lead defense attorney.

Find Me Guilty is guilty as charged — a not-great, but entertaining sidebar to the Lumet library.


Sign up for our weekend events newsletter »

Become a fan of accessAtlanta on Facebook »

Today's deal from DealSwarm.com

accessAtlanta Blogs »

Radio & TV Talk
With Rodney Ho
Food and More
With John Kessler
Misadventures
in Atlanta

A dating blog, with Wise Diva
The Buzz
Celebrity gossip & news