SunnyHello Nice effects though.

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Ugljesa Ijacic Sidney Lumet won me over with 12 Angry Men, The Network and most of all, with a breathtaking masterpiece Dog Day Afternoon. However, the movie I'll say a couple of sentences about here, his late-career favorite, seems to be like those unplanned gems where things just magically fall in place..Paul Newman plays Frank Galvin, a worn-out attorney having been presented with a new case, that possibly could revive his life and career. Along with Jack Warden as his mentor and friend, James Mason as an courthouse opponent, Milo O'Shea as judge and Charlotte Rampling as Frank's lover, all of them are utterly convincing and believable and give this film top-notch cast..Some allegedly small script details play such a huge part in differentiating this movie from a tons of movies with a similar subject. You witness Lumet magic on screen. I hope to get a chance to see the movie in a proper setting, in cinema..

Solnichka McPherson Well, Paul Newman is good, but this film is not among his best. His character is annoying at best, for a variety of reasons, the least of which is he's a lawyer. That being said, let's get to the rest of the film. It is a strong-plotted film, with the time- earned theme of the wronged-little-guys against the big-money-big-guys in a courtroom. Who wins? Watch the movie. Medical malpractice always makes for engaging material. Not much else to say about this film. Newman is solid, but not great. Jack Warden is okay, because that's all he really can be. James Mason is good, and the court scenes are among the best in the film, especially when Mason cross- examines an Irish-accented former Boston nurse. There is a gratuitous love interest and an eventual plot twist that is totally predictable. Watch it, but if you want better Newman, watch Seinfeld or Absence of Malice.

Michael_Elliott The Verdict (1982) **** (out of 4) Disgraced, alcoholic lawyer Frank Galvin (Paul Newman) is handed his best case in years and in return all he has to do is collect the settlement. Instead of doing so Frank sees this case at a shot at redemption so he takes it to trial against one of the best defense lawyers (James Mason).THE VERDICT is without question one of the greatest courtroom dramas that you're ever going to see. I'd argue that it's also one of the greatest films of the decade. I'd even go a step further and say it's one of the greatest and most powerful films ever made. I will even add more praise in saying that it contains perhaps the greatest ensemble acting that you're ever going to witness. Is all of this too much praise to throw on a film? No when it's for a film like THE VERDICT.Obviously everything here begins and ends with Newman who gives one of the greatest performances that you're ever going to witness. I always said that Marlon Brando's performance in LAST TANGO IN Paris is the greatest performance i have ever seen but this one by Newman is close. Just take a look at the sequence before the trial where his character has a panic attack. Just see the fear in eyes, his movement and the fear in his voice. Watch his final speech to the jury. Check out a twist, which I won't ruin, but deals with him being betrayed. A lot of times a music score and editing help "make" a performance but in all of these scenes there are none of that. Instead it's just Newman delivering a performance and often it's shown in one take.Not only is the lead terrific but so are all the supporting players. Jack Warden is terrific in his role as the assistant. Charlotte Rampling is as calm and cold as you can get. As for Mason, did you ever doubt that you were watching a brilliant lawyer work his magic? Milo O'Shea will have your blood boiling in the role of the judge. All of the important characters are brought to life through terrific performances but even the small roles are flawlessly acted. Edward Binns as the Bishop. Lindsay Crouse as an important witness.James Handy and Roxanne Hart as the suffering family members.THE VERDICT is one of the most grim and dark movies that you're ever going to see. The character study of a drunk and a loser makes for some very dark moments and director Sidney Lumet perfectly sets everything up during the opening sequence where we learn everything we need to know. His direction throughout is flawless. The film is slow-paced but it's done for a reason and it's impact is certainly felt in the end. The story is a rather simple one about redemption but the movie offers up so much drama and suspense that it works just like a thriller.THE VERDICT is a film that deserves all the praise one can give it.

Thaneevuth Jankrajang I was 15 years old when the film was released. I didn't get to see it then, but remembered it as a film dramatically lost so many of its Oscar nominations to Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, especially the ones for Best Actor-Paul Newman and Best Director-Sidney Lumet. I still remember the face filled with painful disappointment of James Mason, the film's nominee for Best Supporting Actor, who died shortly after the film's great success. Thirty-three years passed, and I finally got to see this film, if you can believe it. Lumet, Newman, and Mason are all dead. The mysteriously beautiful Charlotte Rampling has become an old lady, still carrying with her some mystique. Bruce Willis and Tobin Bell, who were extras in the courtroom with no dialogue, have become a major and minor great stars respectively. This Lumet's film still holds. The power and the intent are still there with little to no blemish. Even the images of outdated phones, furniture, cars, and all the rest have failed to discredit the film. We know it is an old film, but we cannot care less. The story of the verdict of a man fallen out of the main road and trying to get back, professionally and morally, is timeless. It is not as cheesy as Rocky and not as flashy as The Wrestler. It is calm, serene, constantly moving, even without one single reason why the main character should have bothered continuing. It is a very exciting non-action film. This is a life you can find around you almost on daily basis, a totally failed drunken loser, yet watching it is freshly breathtaking, like discovering something new. "The Verdict" was purposely made in the stage style: rehearsal after rehearsal, long takes and dialogues one after another, plus the virtually motionless cinematography. Brown tone of color all through the screen. All this should have bored and tired the audience to the bone. Yet we find two hours and 9 minutes of this film seamless and rather short. This is what a classic does.