Diesel makes his case, but court film falters

Robert Denerstein, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, March 17, 2006

Find Me Guilty - the story of a real-life New Jersey mobster who defended himself in a lengthy court case - marks the return of director Sidney Lumet to the screen. Lumet, who has directed movies such as Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Prince of the City and Network, hasn't made a movie since 1999's Gloria, a remake of the 1980 John Cassavetes' original.

Not that the 81-year-old Lumet has been idle: He has directed some episodic TV, a fitting task for a director whose career began in the glory days of live television drama. Still, no one would blame Lumet if he decided to put his feet up after a career that includes more than 40 movies.

But Lumet - who knows his way around a crime story - has decided to return to action with a movie that boasts another distinction: Find Me Guilty casts Vin Diesel in a role that departs from his previous muscle-bound, action hero work.

Sporting a wig and a paunch, Diesel plays New Jersey mobster Giacomo "Jackie Dee" DiNorscio, a thug who defended himself in what the movie tells us was the longest criminal trial in U.S. history. It lasted almost two years during the late '80s.

Now before we get to that trial, let's get to the movie, which takes place mostly in a courtroom.

Although Diesel more or less rises to the challenge, he's still a bit wooden. Lumet, who also has been in better form, tends to let the movie drag through a script that asks us to cheer the acquittal of 20 members of the Luchese crime family. They were all part of an apparently endless RICO proceeding.

The result: a medium-grade helping of Lumet that earns its highest marks for the small performances. Alex Rocco, who played Moe Green in The Godfather, bristles as the hard-edged Nick Calabrese, a defendant who hates Jackie's guts. Ron Silver adds a calm presence as the beleaguered judge who presided over the proceedings.

And Annabella Sciorra shows up in a quick, charged turn as Jackie's former wife. Watching her light up the screen is a mixed blessing: She reminds us of what many of the other scenes lack.

Special mention should be made of Peter Dinklage, whose work in The Station Agent won him substantial praise. He hits the mark here as a no-nonsense defense attorney, who initially advises Jackie not to defend himself.

The script (by Lumet, T.J. Mancini and Robert J. MCrea) tends to turn the lead prosecutor (Linus Roache) into a more obnoxious character than any of the mobsters. I guess that's part of the point: The movie - which has a mostly comic spirit - wants to show us that prosecutors, in their way, can be as ruthless as the people they attempt to bring to justice.

So why should we care about DiNorscio anyway? If the movie's right, he provided the trial's comic relief. Jackie constantly refers to himself as a "gagster not a gangster," and he seems to be the only man in the room who actually stands for something. He's committed to the old mob ethos: Never rat out your pals. Already in jail on a narcotics conviction, Jackie refused to "flip" to lighten the burden of a 30-year sentence.

Jackie's shtick - he's part stand-up comic and part good fella - amuses the jury, which develops sympathy for him. Not everyone appreciates his antics. At least one of his fellow defendants worries that Jackie's "performance" will prove harmful in the long run.

In addition to offering jokes and small insights into his own behavior, Jackie also tries to make the case against bigotry, arguing that the prosecutors were eager to find criminal conspiracies among those whose names end in vowels.

And we know that Jackie's interest in his private world exceeds anything that happens in court. He uses the courtroom to settle a score with a junkie cousin (Raul Esparza) who shot him.

When you leave the film, you may find yourself puzzled about why the jury reached its verdict. In dealing with a trial involving 76 charges, Lumet obviously had to be selective about where he focused attention, but the script leaves some important questions unanswered.

Much of the courtroom dialogue was taken from trial transcripts, but that doesn't mean the movie always rings true. Colorful touches help: After a heart attack, one gangster attends the rest of the trial in a hospital bed. Still, you may find yourself wondering whether in real life, any of these guys was really a barrel of laughs.