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Well the surprises
just keep coming. I'm a fan of actor Vin
Diesel and feel that he has a strong screen
presence but… only as an action hero.
I can easily buy the guy as a tough hombre,
ready to beat the snot out of someone at
a moments notice. When he made the switch
to comedy with "The Pacifier"
a couple of years back, it was rather…
well… embarrassing. He wasn't bad,
but he didn’t seem able to make the
most of the material. So when I heard that
he was going to don a suit… and hair…
to play a mafia gangster on trial in director
Sidney Lumet's "Find Me Guilty."
My first introduction to the film came in
the form of pictures hitting the Internet
of Diesel in a wig, and to say he looked
odd is an understatement.
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I further learned that the character he was to
play, Giacomo 'Jackie Dee' DiNorscio, and the
events of the trial were based on a true story.
So aside from getting past the image of him in
a wig, Diesel had to portray a full-fledged, semi-articulate,
Italian mobster. I honestly didn't think he had
it in him, even under the assured direction of
Lumet. Unfortunately, that also seemed to be the
attitude of filmgoers as "Find Me Guilty"
failed to generate any buzz at the box office
and the movie disappeared almost as quickly as
it opened.
Even I missed seeing it in the theatre and found
I had to wait until the eventual DVD release.
Well, that time came sooner than expected as "Find
Me Guilty"
Found its way on my doorstep a couple of weeks
ago. I looked at the picture of Diesel on the
cover, slumped in a chair… with that wig…
and my hopes really didn’t soar. Still to
be fair, I knew I had to at least give the guy…
and the movie a chance. I popped in the DVD, sat
back, and prepared myself for the worst. A little
over two hours later I turned off the DVD player
and just sat there for e few minutes, pleasantly
surprised.
Under the direction of Lumet, "Find Me Guilty"
is a very well-written comedy/drama that successfully
tells the story of Dinorscio's extremely long
court case, and introduces us to a Vin Diesel
that I didn't know existed. As DiNorscio, Diesel
ably delivers one of the best performances of
his career. Forget the wig; it doesn’t look
anywhere near as bad in the film as it does in
pictures, so that ended up not being the obstacle
I thought he was going to have to hurdle. Throughout
the film, Diesel was in complete command of my
attention. He was witty and likable, making it
easy to see why those in the courtroom might root
for him, even though he's the criminal.
As it also turns out, the real story of the trial
is every bit as fascinating as the film presents
it. DiNorscio was arrested on a drug charge and
gets thirty years. But before going to prison,
he had to stand trial for 76 additional charges.
Figuring he couldn’t do any worse than the
lawyers, he chooses to defend himself. The case
ended up going on for almost two years, and he
spent most of the time trying to win over the
judge and jury with his light-hearted personality.
From the short interview with Lumet included on
the DVD we learn that a lot of the dialogue in
the film is taken from the actual court transcripts.
Speaking of that extra feature, aside from a couple
of theatrical and TV trailers, the interview is
all there is. As the movie was much better than
I anticipated, I would have enjoyed some further
interviews or commentary.
"Find Me Guilty" was horribly overlooked
in theatres, hopefully there won’t be a
repeat performance for the DVD.
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Vin Diesel, Peter Dinklage, Linus Roache,
Ron Silver, Annabella Sciorra, Alex Rocco
Extras: Conversation with Sidney Lumet, Theatrical
Trailer, TV Spots
Specifications: Widescreen (1.78:1), Dolby Digital
5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Fox
Release Date: 6/27/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R (For Strong Language and Some Violence)
Website
:We'll give Find Me Guilty a B+.
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