In the mid to late eighties the longest criminal trial in U.S. history took place. Twenty New Jersey mobsters were charged with seventy-six counts of criminal activities. This alone would make the trial a circus. But thrown into the middle of it was one defendant, Jackie DiNorscio (Vin Diesel), a drug dealer with sixth grade education, who decided to represent himself. His antics during the trial are the basis behind Find me Guilty.
First the good. Being an attorney I usually find any court room film pretty interesting. I mean if anything I can point out all the flaws in the film. But the fact that this was based on a true-life case AND they used predominantly the official transcript for most of the courtroom scenes made this really engaging for me.
Furthermore, I can tell ya, any case where the defendant represents himself is going to be a trainwreck. Let alone a twenty defendant, two year long trial! So these real life aspects of the film really pulled me into this picture.
Now the bad. The acting is atrocious! I applaud Vin Diesel for taking on a non-action role (besides The Pacifier), but his bad accent and stiff movements were very distracting especially when he was doing his courtroom scenes.
Everyone else in the film was equally bad. The prosecutor was one of the worst overactors I have ever seen. Finally, all of the mobsters were just your classic stereotypes. They were Sopranos rejects all the way.
But there were two roles where the actors were not total duds. Ron Silver plays the judge who oversaw this extraordinarily long case. While his role is small, it brings the courtroom scenes down to earth amongst all the other bad actors. Also, Peter Dinklage’s performance as the lead defense attorney is a breath of fresh air among the other actors. Whenever he and Diesel have a scene together, it’s nice to see someone who can put on a believable performance.
Here is my favorite screenshot:
I chose the last shot of the film. Not because the film was over, but because in the end this film is about a guy who spent most of his life in prison. With all of his humor and all of his antics he still did not escape the hand of justice and he still spent most of his time on this earth locked up.
On the DVD:
Only some snippets from an interview with director, Sidney Lumet.
Final Analysis:
I completely agree with Truthbringer. The acting in this case was terrible, but that being said I really enjoyed the story, the courtroom scenes and the historical aspects of the film. This film will NOT be for everyone but if you have a free night and think you can look past the juvenile nature of the acting, this may be a popcorn night for you.
RENT THIS DVD!
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