Has anyone else seen the movie "Find me Guilty"? If so, what did you think of it? I was very surprised! I had seen it sitting on the shelves of Blockbuster for a long time but kept passing it up. I finally rented it based on a friends recommendation and I really enjoyed it! I know it's more of a "court room drama" that it is a typical mob movie, but I like how it's a true story about the government trying to take down a group of gangsters.

Most surprising to me, and this is why I enjoyed it so much, was Vin Diesel. I am normally not a fan of his because he always acts, looks, and sounds too cool. But it barely looks like him in this movie, and his acting is great! There are a lot of parts that had me laughing, as well as feeling sorry for him (Which I always find funny since I know that they are horrible mobsters, but I still get attached to them).

I would love to know what anyone else thought of it, and if you haven't then I would really recommend it if you're in the mood for a court room drama based on the mob.

Its a good solid movie from the great legend Sidney Lumet, proving that 80+ year old son of a bitch can still cut the mustard with people 60 years younger than him.

My problem is just the abrupt editing transitions, which obviously came from when the movie was cut to bits in post-production.

But other-wise, you had really a good true story: A grade school-dropout mobster that's already facing 20+ years in jail for coke, fighting with his back to the wall to maybe survive outside of prison before he croaks someday. What's more, after he moves off from entertaining the jury, he actually pokes serious holes into the government's case like a good lawyer should.

Yet, the ending...



FIND ME GUILTY (2006) - ***

Yeah, that bothered me a little as well. I almost think it was because he had a sense of pride and felt good about himself by doing the right thing and sticking by his friends. I'm not sure there was much his friends could have done really. But I understand your feeling for the ending.

I still enjoyed the movie but don't get me wrong, I wouldn't rank it anywhere near my top favorites, but it was definitely a surprise since I had heard nothing about it and had no expectations at all.

It was an okay movie, I watched it once and I'd be fine not seeing it again.

Well, it's a true story, would you expect anything else from those guys ?

I know where you're coming from, but it wasn't like a real life sports movie produced by Disney where you could just fudge the ending just a little bit, for the sake of entertainment. It was a gangster movie, actually a court room dramedy, the material didn't really allow for poetic license.

As far as the movie, it was a nice surprise, Lumet's a champ.

Exactly Pizzaboy, I wouldn't say this movie will change your life by watching it or anything, but if you have no prior opinion going into it, it is a nice surprise. And when you throw in that true-story aspect, it makes it a little more interesting.

I guess if it were typical Hollywood movie the truth would be exaggerated and Diesel would have won the case, and the judge would have let him out of prison because he was so good in court. Then the movie would have went on for another half an hour showing how he had won the respect of the other gangsters including the boss who would step aside and make Diesel the new Boss, leading to a Godfather type moment of the mob guys kissing his hand, etc....

Blah, I prefer the truth.

Well, the truth is that Jackie Dinorscio was released from prison a few years ago and passed away during the filming of this movie. He was relatively young, early 60's I think. That guy was a real piece of work.

You should read THE BOYS FROM NEW JERSEY, by Robert Rudolph, for an in depth look at the case.

I'll have to check it out, thanks for the suggestion.

Actually, its the ending of FIND ME GUILTY that I dig. I mean, the normal Hollywood movie would try to make us damn depressed audiences(since you have shallow movies made just to make you feel good. I'll save my 8 bucks and get valium) happy with a gift-wrapped smiling conclusion that would have been stupid.

I just dig the ending of FIND ME GUILTY because, what did Vin Diesel's character win? Maybe get to get out of jail before he died? Cynically, he didn't win anything, but in fact he did.

You remember Sonny Crockett's "I Fought the Law"(made famous by covers from Fuller and The Clash)?

Diesel's character fought the Law...and the Law won....for him. He beat the government, represented by lawyers and prosecutors who went to the expensive universities and law schools, while Diesel's character had barely a grade school education and poked holes in their case(since that whole prosecution, the government apparently hoped the massive overload of circumstantial evidence would overwhelm the jury and get the guilty verdicts that they wanted. It backfired.)

I watched this last night and was mighty impressed. I've never been a Vin Diesel fan...but he put in a rather exceptional performance in this film. I don't think Sidney Lumet knows HOW to make a bad movie.

The "butcher joke" had me laughing out loud.

Jackie DiNorscio really did use that joke in court! It's now forever a piece of the public record.

Sadly, Lumet has been tied down with stinkers before. GLORIA for starters...

Yea I felt it was a good movie to watch. Not neccasarily a great movie, but it was funny, and hadsome good elements to it. Vin Diesel was actually very good in it.

I finally got around to seeing this movie the other night. I enjoyed it. And I agree with all that you said in your post Blibble. I too have never been a real Vin Diesel fan, but I happen to think that he did a really decent and convincing job in this movie. While the out of court scenes were probably created and written for dramtic effect, the testimony in the court scenes themselves was taken from actual real life testimony and court transcripts.

I thought it was a fun movie to watch. Alex Rocco was an SOB in it, huh?

How did I miss your post DC? I'm glad you enjoyed it! I would actually like to give this movie a re-watch to see if it sticks with me as well as the first time I watched it.

Storyline has potential but the cast was pathetic (Vin Diesel = A BIG No No)