Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Find Me Guilty: DVD Review


Intro

My name is Professor Dare. From time to time, I will be contributing reviews of films and video games that have a pulp bent to them. My first review is of Find Me Guilty, a Sidney Lumet courtroom mafia "dramedy" starring Vin Diesel - who is cast against type. Can the chrome-domed action star make it work? This time, he has...HAIR! Keep reading...
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Find Me Guilty: DVD Review

Vin Diesel has hair.

Vin Diesel has a potbelly.

Vin Diesel can act.

Those three statements generally aren't made about the usually bald and always physically toned action star - but they all apply to Diesel in Sidney Lumet's mafia courtroom "dramedy" Find Me Guilty, which is based on the true story of the longest criminal trial in U.S. history.

Much of the dialogue was taken from actual testimony. There are some situations and exchanges in the movie that would be considered unbelievable and absurd in a fictional narrative, but they actually happened in the real trial.

Diesel plays a Mafia wiseguy, Jackie DiNorscio, who defends himself in court instead of relying on a lawyer. The judge warns him that a man who represents himself "has a fool for a client." Shortly thereafter, Vin approaches the jury and says "I'm no gangster, I'm a gagster." He proves the latter part of his statement with his hilarious, offbeat antics throughout the trial. It becomes a common occurrence for the judge to pound his gavel several times in frustration, yell for order in the court, and repeatedly threaten to hold Diesel "in contempt of court."

Joe Pesci was apparently Lumet's first choice, so you can pretty much figure out the type of character to expect. I'm glad Diesel ended up doing it though. If Pesci had gotten the role, it would've been just more of him playing the same character he always does (which is a treat, granted). Diesel is cast so against type, and he pulls it off beautifully. It's much more fun and rewarding to watch him at work.

While there are definitely dramatic elements to the film, there's also a fair bit of comedy as well (hence the reason I referred to it as a "dramedy" earlier). The trial turns into a bit of a circus, with tons of lawyers present in the courtroom at the same time, an army of witnesses, evidence numbering in the hundreds, Diesel's "gagster" antics, and other assorted bits of tomfoolery.

Peter Dinklage is also a revelation. He's a dwarf in real life, but that's never once played for laughs. In fact, his character - a lawyer - might be the most serious in the movie. And it works. It works because Dinklage brings a professionalism and intensity to the role that makes his stature completely irrelevant.

Ron Silver is also fantastic as the judge. I've only seen him in smarmy villain roles, and his persona was always unlikable and grating to me. Not here. He tones it down and plays the judge with a great degree of empathy for the characters and situations.

Annabella Sciorra also shines in a small role as Vin Diesel's spunky wife.

As for Diesel himself, this is easily the best performance of his career - and believe it or not, it's right up there with any of Pesci's finest.

Lumet hasn't lost his touch. (He is, of course, famous for another courtroom classic, 12 Angry Men - as well as Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, and others.)

This is a great movie. It's funny, touching, and highly recommended.

Welcome Professor Dare!

Welcome aboard Professor Dare! I heard alot about your stuff from Chris Sabga. I look forward to reading your reviews and having roundtable discussions with you!

Welcome Daniel Dare

This is Doctor Lightning once again. This time welcoming Daniel Dare who has insight in his game and movie reviews.

Welcome aboard, Mr. Dare. Make me proud.

Don's Entry


Good evening Mr. and Mrs. North America and all the ships at sea; let's go to press!!

(I just felt like starting my introduction with an archaic Walter Winchell reference)



My name is Don Gates (no, no relation to Bill, I'm afraid). I guess you could say my first pulp-type experience was as a four or five year-old, when my grandmother played an episode of "The Shadow" for me. Scared the hell out of me, but also set in motion the events that would lead me to a lifetime hobby.

Here I am now, a die-hard pulp-era adventure fan. How die-hard? Well, I don't know how many Shadow fans have a tattoo of their hero, but I do. I don't know how many pulp fans nearly got teary watching "Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow", but I did.

I'm kinda hard-core, I guess.

My new friend Gabriel and I kinda clicked with our interests in the pulpy side of entertainment, and so have collaborated on this site.I am mostly a fan of The Shadow, Doc Savage, and The Avenger in all their forms (I even have a handful of the original pulps), but also have a great deal of affection for those other pulp heroes and magazine titles, as well as period-style adventure films, movie serials, radio shows and comic books...

These are all culminating in a trio of pulpy projects I'm working on: Challenger Storm, The Cipher, and The Black Wing. I'm going to be bouncing these developing ideas off of an all-star team of pulp fans (who each have their own impressive project, whether it's a blog, webcomic, or anything else), and will pobably be starting an online journal of the developments in the near future.

My personal goal is to have at least one pulp novel published, and maybe to do some crossover collaborations as well. We'll see what happens, and I'm sure it'll be a good time.

Brought to you by rich, chocolaty Ovaltine, and by The Goodrich Safety Silvertown Tire (with the "Life-Saver Tread")!

Gabriel's Entry


Hello friends. Thanks to the sponsorship of Blue Coal, I'm here to introduce myself. My name is Luis-Gabriel Leal. I go by Gabriel, Gabe or Lou.

My exposure to the wonderful genre of pulp heroes and cliffhanger movie serials was back in 1985 when I was but a wee lad in St. Michael's School for Boys. I was flipping through the channels on a lazy Sunday afternoon when I happen to come across Flash Gordon. I was enthralled by the elaborate sets, the amazing costumes and the wonderful production value.

To me this was far better than the Star Wars and Star Trek movies. As time progressed, I began to collect DC Comics which is a great company that respects the pulp-esque roots of many of their heroes.

Flash forward 23 years and here I am collaborating with my new friend Don Gates on what I hope to be a blossoming pulp project for our respective projects.

I am an embittered, ex-graphic designer. This former Generation X'er barely survived the dot.com bust of the late 90s with the shirt on his back and a head full of photoshop ideas.

Now, I am an amateur comic writer who's been blessed to be hooked up with a professional comic artist. My comic, the Red Phantom can be seen at ComicSpace. You can also view my journal as I write about my research for future Red Phantom stories.

As to what I've planned here... Well, I don't know yet. Keep checking back!