Vin Deisel (yeah, that's really him) stars as an Italian mobster who decides defending himself in court is better than having an attorney.
The gimmick for this film is that it's based on a true story. Not only that, but most of the dialogue is from the actual court transcripts. I assume, the stuff that is actually said in front of the judge is what was really said, and little comments here and there that wouldn't have been recorded by the court recorder are the items that the writers added.
Right off the bat you can tell that Vin is having fun with the role. This is soooooooooo far away from Riddick that it is the EXACT opposite. This performance actually shows he can act outside of just grunting one liners.
Vin is on trial with 20-some other mobsters as part of Guiliani's crackdown before he became mayor. All the rest have lawyers except for Vin. He's also the only one currently in prison.
As stated, Vin is great here as a naive mobster that everyone seems to like. Also of note, Ron Silver is very good as the judge who has to put up with Vin and Peter Dinklage is awesome as an attorney who helps Vin through his defense.
Linus Roache plays a straight laced prosecutor, and gives the speech of the film while sitting in his office ranting about how stupid the jury is to his staff. He reminds me of Bill Pulman and was pretty good here, but at times was a bit too straight laced. That might be attributed to the writing though.
Alex Rocco I want to mention because he plays the mob boss. The problem is I've seen him in so many other things, usually comedic, that his performance just doesn't make me believe him in this role.
There is no action here and Vin isn't some alien fighting badass. If you don't like dialogue, you will be bored. In fact, there are some slow parts here and there, which should be blamed on the pacing, but overall this film is definitely worth a viewing.
8 out of 10.
Edited By Leisher on 1152568938
Find Me Guilty
I give this one 5 stars. Sure, it's a dialogue-heavy movie, but for what it is supposed to be it is top of the heap.
You're right. My rating has been bumped a point.
Was it straight to video?
No idea. I doubt it as Blockbuster had a shitload of them indicating it was a bigger release than straight to video.
Edited By Leisher on 1152568926
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
It was released in theatres, I remember Vin being the Daily Show a few months ago for it.
It did not do well.
$1,173,673 US Gross; Widest release: 439 theatres
It did not do well.
$1,173,673 US Gross; Widest release: 439 theatres
It's not me, it's someone else.
I truly believe that Hollywood has fucked itself when it comes to movies like this one. These types of films have lost their theater audience. They all stay at home and rent the DVD.
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell