Find Me Guilty

The movie had a really great script; it was funny, dramatic and touching. I was really surprised by Vin Diesel's performance, I wasn't expecting him to pull it off. I think Jackie D himself, his personality and his words helped Vin a lot there. I was also impressed by Raúl Esparza as Tony. I've seen him on Broadway and I have been wowed by his stage performances. I wasn't sure if he could make the transition, but he was the perfect paranoid junkie. The only problems I had with the movie are with tiny details like extras dressed in 2006 fashions and flat screen monitors on desks. Knowing that the trial began in the early 90's, it caught my attention and stuff like the computer monitors shouldn't grab attention. Overall, "Find Me Guilty" is a great movie, and I highly recommend it.

Great performance by Vin Diesel in here. I always just thought of him as an actor who did not have the ability to take on a non-action leading role. Wow did he prove me wrong here. Find Me Guilty was really a revelation in itself and for Diesel.

The acting like I just said was great from Vin Diesel. Diesel has shown in the past some great supporting performances. With this movie he clearly showed that he can give a real acting performance. The way he displayed his character as a loud mouth, slick talking mafia man was just so genuine and real. He made me laugh every five minutes and still was able to draw me into the movie as a serious character. The supporting performances were nice here to from Peter Dinklage and Alex Rocco.

The directing was very good if not great as well. When it comes to any film involving court Sidney Lumet is the man who should direct it. This is the man who directed 12 Angry Men and The Verdict which are probably the two of the top five court movies ever. This time though he is able to perfectly balance the comedy and drama of this movie to make this film very engaging and exciting to watch. Sidney Lumet once again proves to me at least why he is one of the most creative and best movie directors ever.

The writing was perfect for this movie. In a way the movie was making fun of itself which is always nice to see in these type of comedies. Together with Diesel the writing made for some many laugh-out-loud scenes. Sidney Lumet with his directing and writing really is able to show that a real-life courtroom drama can realistically funny too.

My advice is to definitely watch this movie if you have not. It is not a superficial meaningless movie and believe it or not is a little inspiring. Creativity in movies at its best.

I have never particularly cared one way or the other about Vin Diesel as an actor. I never loved nor hated him and his work. However, after seeing "Find Me Guilty" I found myself really respecting him and his craft. He and this film were very compelling.

The story is about the life and trial of Jackie DiNorscio, a lower level mobster who was prosecuted along with a huge group of other co-conspirators in what turned out to be the longest trial in US history...nearly two years long!! And, during he course of this trial based on the RICO statute, each defendant ended up having their own lawyers...except for DiNorscio...who, insanely, decided to defend himself! What?! Some seemingly dim New Jersey mobster defending himself?!

The film amazed me because although I don't like mobster films at all, I was mesmerized by the story...mostly because it's supposedly true. And, oddly, Diesel made you almost like the guy...almost. His performance was very compelling...and well worth seeing.

By the way, if you are concerned about adult content, there is a lot of very harsh language but not much else. Very little violence, no nudity and only a bit that might make parents feel uncomfortable about letting their kids or mother watch the movie. Interesting from start to finish and never dull.

I had the opportunity to see this movie at the Screen Actors Guild in Hollywood last week along with a Q&A with Vin afterward. I have to say I didn't know what to expect after seeing his regular action roles, but I was very impressed. His acting skills have stepped up to the next challenge. Once I got the vision of sexy action star out of my head I was able to concentrate on the character at hand and by the end of the movie I was almost expecting the character to walk in instead of Vin Diesel! I rated this movie a 9 only because it had way more obscene language fillers than it needed. It's a mafia movie we get it. I just don't care to have so much cursing in a movie I think it takes away from the content. Also as a side note I was impressed with the Q&A after, no one can say that Vin is a muscle head. He is an articulate and passionate actor, as well as very humble. I was sitting about three feet from him during the interview and could see his hand twitching nervously as he addressed the small group of actors there. He most certainly has high marks in my book.

I went to a preview screening of this film, so the version I saw may not make it onto the screen. I was pretty hesitant when I heard that Mr. Diesel was in it. I have to report that he did justice to the role. OK, he was no young Al Pacino, but he was certainly better than the old Al Pacino would be in the role. And Pacino has to be the patron saint of the film. His performance could have been loud, it could have been slick, instead he adds surprising depth to an essentially obnoxious character.

The story isn't surprising, but it does carry a bit of a cultural wallop, and Deisel, using dialog drawn from actual courtroom testimony is able to convey a real sense of outrage over being societal discrimination. It is a testimony to Lumet's direction, that the film never veers into the didactic or preachy.

The real surprise to me was Annabella Sciorra. The print I saw had no credits, so I wasn't expecting her and it took me a bit to place her face. She was electrifying. She truly lit up the screen in her 5 minutes. In an extended dialog with Diesel as her husband, she goes from dispassion, to jealousy, to outrage, to sexual hunger in the most nuanced and natural performance I have seen in a long while. Sciorra is a major talent and needs to get some larger roles, maybe even a few where she isn't the Wife/Fiancée of a N.J. mobster.