FIND ME GUILTY: Blu-ray debut for a Sidney Lumet gem boasting Vin Diesel's best role

TrustMovies first saw FIND ME GUILTY -- the penultimate film from the late, great Sidney Lumet (shown below) -- back in 2006 when it was first released.

He enjoyed it immensely then and found it just as much fun again now, thirteen years later. Though he must also say that this "take" on the longest federal trial in American history -- which might, back in 2006, have seemed to favor those adorable Mafia hoods (who were up on multiple charges) over the somewhat nasty-appearing government prosecutors -- looks a bit different today.

Now, with a lot more understanding of the damage the mafia does to every society with which it interacts, audiences may be a bit more likely to glom onto the lengthy and passionate speech delivered by the leading prosecutor (played quite well by Linus Roache), as he highlights, oh, so specifically, the costs to society -- from protection rackets to drugs to multiple murder -- of Mafia interference.

Of course, it's the mob "wise guys" -- one in particular played to a fare-thee-well and with great good humor by Vin Diesel (below) -- who prove the most fun, just as they did to the jurors who served on the actual trial, but Find Me Guilty is smart enough to understand and appreciate the immense and unsettling societal costs of an unchecked Mob that makes and lives by its own laws.

Mr. Diesel plays a real-life fellow named Jackie DiNorscio who, fed up with his fairly useless attorney, fires the guy and asks the court to allow him to defend himself in this famous trial that had more defendants than you could shake a stick at. The judge said OK, but I'll bet succeeding judges in Mafia trials went out of their way not to let this happen again.

How DiNorscio charmed the jury, even as he riles the biggest mob boss on trial (played with his usual strength and style by Alex Rocco, above, right), makes up most of the movie's two-hour running time. Much of DiNorscio's in-court dialog comes directly, we are told at the film's beginning, from court records. However, Mr. Lumet, never being a stickler for the truth over a good story, is, as co-writer here, up to his usual and much-appreciated tricks.

In the supporting cast are an interestingly used Peter Dinklage (above) playing one of the mob attorneys who occasionally helps out our "hero," and an even more unusually-used Raúl Esparza (below), as Jackie's drug-addled, turncoat cousin. In the role of the judge, Ron Silver has a few juicy, well-played scenes and moments, too.

Yes, as with most mob movies, this one's guy-oriented, though Annabella Sciorra has one good scene as Jackie's put-upon wife (her husband was a non-stop cocksman, it seems), and Marcia Jean Kurtz makes the most of her small screen time as one of the prosecutors.

It is Sidney Lumet's love of New York City and its denizens, however, together with his ability for smart pacing, sharp dialog, and just-plain-good-storytelling, that tops it all, making Find Me Guilty a pleasure that proves anything but guilty. See it if you haven't as yet -- or maybe once again, if you already have.

From MVD Visual and part of its Marquee Collection, the Blu-ray and DVD hit the street this past Tuesday, September 17 -- available now for purchase and (I hope) rental. Among the relatively minor Bonus Features is a very nice five-minute conversation with Mr. Lumet.

Mick Jackson and David Hare's DENIAL proves a crackerjack courtroom thriller, British style

Courtroom drama -- from Witness for the Prosecution and Twelve Angry Men onward (and probably backward, too) -- so often deal with murder and retribution that when one such as DENIAL turns out to be all about a libel suit, the excitement level may appear to be rather low. Of course, if you count the approximately six million murdered during the Holocaust -- an event which the movie's antagonist (played with relish-y perfection by Timothy Spall, shown at left on poster, right, and two photos below) insists never happened, then that level gets a good goosing upwards.

When that movie also happens to have been written extremely well by David Hare and directed most efficiently by Mick Jackson (shown at left), the results are riveting. Mr Hare, one of Britain's finer living screenwriters and playwrights, has based his screenplay on an actual case tried in the British courts and brought by would-be historian David Irving against American historian, author and teacher Deborah Lipstadt, who in one of her books called Irving (among other things) a "Holocaust denier." He is all that and more (much less, actually).

Because Mr. Irving brought his suit against Ms Lipstadt and her British publisher in London, it must be tried according to British law, so for relatively sophisticated American audiences, at least, this will give the movie added interest and surprise. What is and is not allowed, and what this means to the defense and prosecution, make the film consistently interesting, and Mr. Hare has provided just enough of the personal and the detailed to keep us caring about all the protagonists without ever descending into the crass or melodramatic.

Playing Ms Lipstadt is that fine actress Rachel Weisz (above), who brings out her character's strength, sass and intelligence supremely well. Weisz makes us understand and appreciate Lipstadt's refusal to ever engage in debate with any Holocaust denier. Really: Would we also waste time debating with someone who insisted the earth is flat? She will however call these people out on their poorly perceived "facts."

Her two British attorney's -- one who does the behind-the-scenes work, played with stern but amused rigor by the increasingly versatile Andrew Scott (below and to the left of Ms Weisz); the other, who appears in court to do the fancy footwork necessary but also does his homework regarding background, played with great depth by the grand and capacious actor Tom Wilkinson (above) -- work hard to keep Lipstadt in check.

She wants to testify, and she wants Holocaust victims to testify, too (as do they themselves). As do we, initially, but one of the movie's strengths is how well it finally convinces us that this would not only be unnecessary but damaging to this particular case.

If you followed Lipstadt's career (that's she, below, with Ms Weisz) and/or the somewhat famous trial, you'll know the outcome here. Even so, the film succeeds, scene by scene, in keeping us glued. It also calls attention to the ever increasing times that our world is confronted with Holocaust deniers. In the words of a certain famous bread commercial, "You don't have to be Jewish..." to find this denial offensive, stupid and utterly reprehensible. As the Holocaust recedes in history and memory, we'll need consistent reminding to keep much of the world -- from Islamic states to the Neo-Nazis -- from either deliberately "forgetting" or twisting history to its own ends. Movies like this one provide that reminder, and they do it damned well.

From Bleecker Street and running 110 minutes, Denial -- after opening earlier in New York and Los Angeles, hits theaters in South Florida tomorrow, Friday, October 14. Here in Boca Raton, it plays the Regal Shadowood 16 and the Cinemark Palace 20.  Next Friday, the film expands to many more cities across the country. Click here then scroll down to find the theater and playdate nearest you.

Streaming tip: Don't miss the BBC's David Blair/ Jimmy McGovern, BAFTA-nominated COMMON

One of those "little" films (made for British television) that could easily escape your notice, COMMON, happens to star two great-but-lesser-known-than-Helen-Mirren British actresses -- Jodhi May and Susan Lynch -- who are always worth watching. Further, the film also tackles an important social/ political/class issue, that of prosecuting possible criminals under the British legal process known as Joint Enterprise, which, while useful in some situations (one of which the film makes quite clear), can also be used to punish the innocent in ways terrible and hugely unjust.

The writer, noted British scribe Jimmy McGovern (shown at left, of Cracker, Priest, and Go Now), and director David Blair have created a swift, smart, extremely moving tale of a family trapped in a Joint Enterprise situation -- how this comes about and what happens as a result. Fortunately for us viewers, McGovern and Blair are as interested in the characters and their situations as they are in righting a social/legal wrong, and so the movie works on a number of levels.

The situation, into which we are immediately thrust, is this: a young man is behind the wheel of a car waiting for his pals to emerge from a pizza shop. When they do -- rushing and screaming for him to drive away -- it soon becomes clear that they were not there for any pizza.

What has happened was completely unexpected so far as our innocent lad Johnjo (Nico Mirallegro, above) is concerned. The unfairness of what happens to him -- especially set against what happens to some of the other young men involved -- in the course of this riveting and exceedingly well-written, -acted and -directed film will set your teeth on edge. Which of course is the point. Mr. McGovern is noted for edgy teeth-setting, which drives certain segments of British society a bit mad (here are two opposing views of the film from sources right and left).

TrustMovies found the film to be much less preachy about its "theme" and much more about what loss and despair can do to entire families. The two actresses -- May (above, second from left) and Lynch (shown below)-- portray respectively, the mother of the innocent driver and the mother of the victim of the crime, a young man who was not involved in any way except as bystander menaced by the most thuggish and crazy of the bunch (a very scary and believable Andrew Ellis).

Ms Lynch, always an unfussy, direct actress, no matter how "showy" the role might be, provides her scenes of grief with such immediacy and sorrow that they will move you almost beyond belief. And Ms May, slowly coming to realize what has happened and why, proves as genuine and specific as any actress you can name. These women are the moral center of the movie; they understand what to do and why it must be done better and sooner than any of the men.

As the missing father of the family, Daniel Mays, above, brings a fine mix of guilt, shame and honesty to the proceedings, and his character becomes more and more important as the movie moves along.

Concerning "joint enterprise," and as befits so many judicial processes, the film seems less about the thing itself than how that process is applied toward justice. The movie's most telling moment comes in a scene in which it is shown that our boy Johnjo was simply too honest and direct with his confession. Had he gotten a lawyer and bargained, as does another character in the film, things might have turned out quite differently. What a lesson is here proclaimed.

There must be a way in which the concept of joint enterprise can be used to the benefit of real justice, rather than in the all-or-nothing manner we're shown here. It's up to the Brits to figure out how. In the supporting cast, everyone proves top-notch, with a surprise appearance by Michael Gambon (above) as the sitting judge in the case.

Meanwhile, catch this must-see movie -- from BBC LA Productions -- while it's available to stream via Netflix, Amazon, and maybe elsewhere.