Village Voice by Ben Kenigsberg
Find Me Guilty is overlong and often sitcomy, but it's also pleasantly old-school, with a tone, soundtrack, and even a title-card font that suggest a mellow but not senile Woody Allen.
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Germany, United States · 2006
Rated R · 2h 5m
Director Sidney Lumet
Starring Vin Diesel, Alex Rocco, Frank Pietrangolare, Richard DeDomenico
Genre Crime, Drama
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Based on the true story of Jack DiNorscio, a low-level mobster who, in the 1980’s, defended himself in court for what turned into the longest mafia trial in U.S. history. With snappy dialogue ripped directly from the court transcripts, this film is a courtroom-comedy tour-de-force.
Village Voice by Ben Kenigsberg
Find Me Guilty is overlong and often sitcomy, but it's also pleasantly old-school, with a tone, soundtrack, and even a title-card font that suggest a mellow but not senile Woody Allen.
Part mob-trial thriller, part "dese 'n' dose" extended standup routine, character-rich pic plays like vintage Lumet, mining the grim comedy from life-and-death legal wranglings in the manner of "Dog Day Afternoon," "Prince of the City" and "The Verdict."
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Despite being saddled with bad prosthetics and a ridiculous wig, Diesel displays more acting ability than in the testosterone-soaked genre where he has carved out a niche.
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
All the acting is solid including a knock-'em-dead single scene by Annabella Sciorra as Jackie's ex-wife.
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
A sharp-looking Mob drama with a gooey moral center.
Dallas Observer by Luke Y. Thompson
The characters may be based on real people, with much of the dialogue culled directly from court transcripts, but Find Me Guilty plays the whole thing as comedy, and as everyone knows, putting a self-serious egomaniacal movie star in a bad hairpiece is comedy gold.
A new courtroom comedy that finds Diesel chewing scenery in a role originally intended, and seemingly custom-made, for Joe Pesci.
Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer
Most Mafia movies are unduly sympathetic, but this one takes the cake. Peter Dinklage is excellent as the mob's chief lawyer.
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
Sadly, Lumet's skill at bringing out the juice in actors isn't enough to save the film from overkill.
Shot quickly and cheaply in high-definition video and almost entirely on one set, the movie has almost zero visual energy, but it teems with snappy dialogue and the same carnival anarchy Lumet brought to "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Network."
Rise and fight
Positively the most horrifying film ever made