The Screen Addict | Lumet

I have done a bit of Sidney Lumet re-appreciation lately, with previous viewings of Night Falls on Manhattan (1996) and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007), and more recently of Find Me Guilty (2006) and Guilty as Sin (1993).

I’ve been a huge fan of Don Johnson ever since I watched – and endlessly rewatched – Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) as a teenager. I had been aware of Johnson through Miami Vice obviously, but HDatMM truly sealed the deal for me. Johnson hasn’t had a huge, prolific output as a film actor, but to spot him in a movie is always a big plus for this cinephile.

GaS came out shortly after HDatMM and would make for a handsome Erotic-Thriller threesome with Fatal Attraction (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992). The film co-stars Rebecca De Mornay as a high-powered attorney who gets railroaded by an ultra-slick, manipulative defendant played by Johnson.

Lumet was always completely in his element with courtroom-driven narratives, and GaS is no exception. Johnson slithers and De Mornay shines under his super-steady direction.

FMG stars Vin Diesel at a point in his career when Dominic Toretto hadn’t gone into full overdrive yet, and the film is a nice reminder of the range the Fast-and-Furious patron displayed in earlier productions like Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Boiler Room (2000).

In FMG Diesel plays real-life mobster Jackie DiNorscio, who famously appeared Pro Per – i.e. acting as his own attorney – in a high-profile RICO case.

The perplexing pyrotechnics and gravity-defying carmageddon of F&F are undeniably great fun to watch, but they do make it easy to overlook the fact that Diesel is actually a pretty awesome actor. In FMG, he effortlessly holds his own opposite veteran players like Ron Silver and Alex Rocco – not to mention early-career Peter Dinklage.

FMG further illustrates Lumet’s penchant for Legal Thrillers and Courtroom Dramas, genres the director all but wrote the book on.

Next to headlining, Diesel also served as a producer under his One Race banner. Sadly, FMG was to be Lumet’s last production in movie court. The legendary filmmaker passed away five years after the film was released.

Check out these two solid Lumets and pay your respects!

#thescreenaddict
#film
#movies
#contentrecommendation
#celebrateart
#nobodyknowsanything

Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict