nan | 楠木

The Verdict, directed by Syndey Lumet and starring Paul Newman, is a top notch courtroom drama, which despite not breaking much new ground in terms of the genre, offers a fascinating story and one very memorable performance.

You’ve heard the story. The odds are impossibly stacked against our protagonist, who’s a lawyer long past his prime and struggling to stay sober. He’s representing a clear case, but he’s up against a powerful defense that will use every means to sabotage his trial. His star expert witness disappears. The judge doesn’t like him. The woman he loves betrays him.

For most of the film, the story seems incredibly bleak. The legal system and its gaping holes are exposed. While we are sympathetic with our protagonist, there doesn’t seem to be much of a chance for him – and we’re even angry with him, for not settling the case outside of course and therefore blowing the chance for his client to get compensation.

But the glimmers of hope, and his stubbornness to see things to the end, all culminate in the final verdict. Yes, it’s a happy ending, and to some extent one can challenge whether it should be the logical ending – he won the court of opinion, but in the court of justice, could he have truly won?

Such flaws certainly hamper the film’s impact. Regardless, the film is extremely successful in building a defining character. Paul Newman, who has won one Oscar in addition to seven nominations, is needless to say one of the finest actors of the twentieth century, and here he delivers a mesmerizing performance (for which he gets his last fruitless best actor nomination before finally breaking the curse with The Color of Money). His jaded appearance, his worn speech, his crystal blue eyes which stare hauntingly as he is transfixed in deep thought – here is a character that is truly struggling to fight the injustices of life, falling along the way but always picking himself up. He is tired, frustrated, battered, but he delivers his last appeal in defiance. And for this defiant spirit alone, this time-tested film is well worth watching.

8/10