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Arts & Entertainment

Lumet's Passing Is Loss to NYC Cinema

With the recent death of director Sidney Lumet, a hole grows in New York filmmaking.

With the passing of film director Sidney Lumet on April 9, 2011, I have to wonder if we have any great New York City directors anymore.  Woody Allen now makes most of his movies in Europe.  Martin Scorsese no longer films exclusively in New York like he did earlier in his career.  So, this is it…the end of an era.  Unlike Allen and Scorsese, Lumet was not born in the city that would come to define him…he was born in Philadelphia.  Soon though, he moved to the town that would be engrained in his work for the rest of his life…New York.  Here are three of his films, the best from the beginning, middle and end of his illustrious career. 

Twelve Angry Men 

One man stands alone against 11 others at the beginning of this movie. Henry Fonda plays the only juror who buys the defendant’s version of events and his innocence. Little by little, Fonda convinces the other jurors of the defendant’s lack of guilt and by the end of the movie, the tables have completely changed. This is the type of film that you know going into it how it just has to turn out. But, you watch it anyway…mesmerized by the performances and amount of sheer power coming through on the screen. Fonda was never better as this lone man, plodding his case among his peers, trying everything he could before he is forced to give up and cave in to pressure. Also features some great actors in their early roles, such as Jack Warden and Jack Klugman. Lumet became synonymous with New York City/crime/legal dramas after this film’s success, with good reason.  Also, it has to be mentioned that this was Lumet’s first feature film, having directed only television movies and shows before this.  WOW!

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The Verdict

The Verdict is one of Paul Newman's strongest performances and it just happened to be in his fourth decade of film acting.  Some actors start to rest on their laurels toward the end of their careers.  Not Mr. Newman.  Lumet's movie features one of the strongest, fiercest performances ever put on screen.  At the beginning of the film, Newman's character is an alcoholic mess…rarely sober and never thinking about the law or his clients.  He sees any new case as a way to buy more liquor…and even when the case of the century comes to him, he almost blows it.  Crusty and unkempt, Newman is spot-on here as the attorney who has one last chance to save himself and his client.  Can he do it?  I would tell you, but I am so insistent that people see this film that I wouldn't dare. 

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Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a good thriller…with a good ending. Not a great ending (I wish one of the main characters' stories was not left unresolved) but still satisfying. And, maybe Lumet left that one character’s end unresolved because that’s how life is…sometimes events are left hanging.  From the way it starts to the way Lumet structures the story (told from different points of view), this one is original. Basically, it’s a robbery-gone-awry story which we’ve all seen over and over again in films. But Lumet adds an extra twist here that keeps you guessing until the end. Not Lumet’s best movie (read Twelve Angry Men above for that) but compared to some of the lame thrillers out there, this is one of the best of late.  And as it turns out, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was Lumet’s final film.  Not a bad swan song!

12 Angry Men: 1957, not rated, 96 minutes, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Henry Fonda, Martin Balsam, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Warden, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, John Fiedler, Ed Begley, Robert Webber, Edward Binns, Joseph Sweeney and George Voskovec. 

The Verdict: 1982, rated R, 129 minutes, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Paul Newman, Jack Warden, Charlotte Rampling, James Mason and Milo O’Shea. 

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead: 2007, rated R, 117 minutes, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney and Marisa Tomei. 

The Niles Public Library owns these titles on DVD. 

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