NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
NIGHT FALLS ON PLAUSIBILITY, oops I mean NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN is the gritty new crime drama written and directed by Sidney Lumet.
The key police witness chews gum on the witness stand in the biggest case of the year. An assistant DAs slaps his indigent client when he isn't paying proper attention to the questions. Police get spooked and gun down another cop BONNIE AND CLYDE-style. Police use cocaine to pay off their stool pigeons so they can catch the big drug dealer.
And in the piece de resistance, Ron Leibman, as District Attorney Morgenstern (Morgie) , climbs on top of a desk and, shamelessly overacting, screams his orders to a hundred of his minions huddled around him in a crowded hallway. They will drop all of their cases and work for 72 hours straight so that they can catch the drug dealer, Jordan Washington (Shiek Mahmud-Bey), that killed some cops.
When Jordan is caught, whom does Morgie appoint to try the highest profile case in years? Why, green Assistant DA Sean Casey (Andy Garcia), whose father, Liam (Ian Holm), was wounded by Jordan. Since Morgie's chief prosecutor, Elihu Harrison (Colm Feore), might run against him in the next election, Morgie gives the case to someone with less than a year of experience. And these are only a few of the improbabilities.
Holding back your laughter as one incredulous scene after an another rolls across the screen is not easy. Still the film affords several guilty pleasures -- watching Garcia's hair being chief among them. In his casual scenes his bangs are carefully tossed in front of his face in exactly the same way each time in order to avoid any continuity errors. When he dresses for business, the make-up department uses a superglue-like gel to make sure that his hair stays properly in its place. Nuclear weapons could not move it in these scenes.
Even the ridiculous aspects of the film create laughable fun. Peggy Lindstrom, the assistant to the William Kunstler clone defense attorney, Sam Vigoda (Richard Dreyfuss), is played by the ever radiant Lena Olin. Before the trial's conclusion, she will take Sean to bed solely because she has the hots for him. This part of the plot leads nowhere and only serves to titillate the audience. Neither actor shows any skin or much emotion.
Ian Holm gives the only genuine and moving performance in what is otherwise a plastic show, despite the realistic grimness of David Watkin's cinematography and Philip Rosenberg's sets.
The ultimate failing of the picture is Lumet's inability to ever set the proper rhythm for the picture. Individual parts of the plot work, but they are never drawn into a convincing whole. Couple this with the picture's lack of energy, save the periodic overacting, and the shows bogs down hopelessly with the weight of its implausibility.
NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN runs 1:54. It is rated R for violence and profanity. It would be fine for most teenagers. The film has little worth recommending so it's thumbs down and * 1/2.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: May 20, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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