NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1997 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: Police corruption, degrees of
justice, compromises, and conflicts of personality
all mix in a relatively straightforward but still
engrossing story of a new man in the District
Attorney's office uncovering corruption that could
involve his own father. Sidney Lumet gives us in
another strong set in the New York City justice
system. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4), 7 (0 to 10)
New York Critics: 10 positive, 4 negative, 5 mixed.
Sidney Lumet, whose early work for film included the now classic 12 ANGRY MEN, has built up a major body of sharp films, frequently set in New York and frequently about the criminal justice system. In spite of a little violence, and that mostly off-screen, this is a low-key ironic look at how the system works and where it chooses to fail to work. While in the final analysis the film may not deliver a whole lot more than some of the better television police procedural programs, it is an intelligent and adult alternative to this season's fluff and "blow 'em up real good" films.
Sean Casey (played by Andy Garcia) is a new investigator in the office of District Attorney "Morgy" Morgenstern's. He is something of a straight arrow who expects to go it on his own and stick to the letter of the law. His father Liam (Ian Holm) is an experience- hardened cop who has encouraged his son to pursue a career in law. The plot thickens as Liam is on a stakeout of Jordan Washington (Shiek Mahmud-Bey), a local drug pusher on his way to being a drug lord. An attempted arrest goes very wrong as three different precincts send in backup, two policemen are kill by Washington and a third policeman is accidentally killed in the confusion. Liam himself is very nearly killed. District Attorney Morgenstern, who is having a bad time with his public image and who is being betrayed by his own ambitious assistant, decides to give the job of prosecuting Washington instead assistant. This in spite of any conflict of interest or emotional entanglement Sean might have prosecuting the man who nearly killed his father. And there is a further complication as the defense--led by the Alan Dershowitz-like Sam Vigoda (Richard Dreyfuss)--implies that the police involved in the attempted arrest may have been on the take. In specific suspicion falls on Liam and his long-time partner Joey (James Gandolfini). Lumet wrote the screenplay himself, basing it on the novel TAINTED EVIDENCE by Robert Daley. Daley also wrote the novel that was the basis for Lumet's PRINCE OF THE CITY.
When one actor in a film gives a good performance, he is probably a good actor. When there are many good performances in the same film, some from almost unknown actors, it probably is because of the talent of the director. One of the better performances in the film is James Gandolfini as the partner of Liam. He has just a scene or two, in which he is an important character, but he seems very believable in those scenes. Holm and Garcia play reasonably well off of each other though they do not give much feeling of being father and son. The most memorable performance is probably that of Ron Leibman as the District Attorney, played with what could be called "an excess of personality," to borrow a phrase from JURASSIC PARK. Richard Dreyfuss underplays just a bit as a celebrated defense attorney who does not reveal the dimensions of his character until the end of the film. Rounding out the cast is Lena Olin the attractive but somewhat dispensable character Peggy Lindstrom, assistant to Vigoda who has an affair with Sean.
This is not Lumet's best film and its final irony is more a subtle point than a hard-hitting one, but it is an intelligent adult story. I rate it a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
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