THE INDISPENSIBLES – #7: THE VERDICT
Aged nineteen I encountered The Verdict. It is probably one of the singular most important movies in my life. I used to leave it out of my top ten lists or I used to avoid throwing it out there with casual statements like “greatest movie ever made” etc. because I just feel that this particular movie is one “for me”. One that I want to protect against people ever picking fault at it or sneeringly questioning why I love it as much as I do.
It’s a movie that is just beyond perfection in every way, shape and form AND it did the one thing that we all secretly hope a movie will do for us but very rarely does; it changed my life, it changed how I looked at life, it changed how I viewed a film, it introduced me to a wealth of talent that I’d otherwise be ignorant to or have discovered much later down the line (director Sidney Lumet, screenwriter David Mamet, character actor Jack Warden). It is quite simply one of the best movies ever made. And as purely pitch-perfect as it is in terms of writing, directing, casting and the like, it is most definitely Newman’s unbelievably sublime central performance that takes this film and carries it off into the stratosphere. It is my favourite performance that he has given out of a career littered with fantastic roles. The guy is incredibly missed.
Yes, The Verdict is one of the best movies ever made, I stand by that, more so because it is founded on one of the greatest screen performances in the history of movies in my humble opinion. On top of this, it is the greatest film about alcoholism you will ever see. And the best courtroom drama on top of that. Talk about layered, huh?
The Verdict tells the story of Frank Galvin (Newman), a down-on-his luck lawyer, reduced to drinking and ambulance chasing. He’s reminded of his obligations in a medical malpractice suit that has been served to him on a silver platter: all parties willing to settle out of court – therefore an open-and-shut case that Galvin just has to “guide” to its conclusion and get a little dash of restoration applied to his crushed reputation. Blundering his way through the preliminaries, he suddenly realises that the case should go to court because it is the right thing to do: to punish the guilty, to get a decent settlement for his clients, and to restore his standing as a lawyer. Against all odds, Galvin makes a stand!
Robert Redford was the first to spot the potential of the acclaimed novel by Barry Reed, from which The Verdict is based. The rights were with old-school producers, Zanuck and Brown (of Jaws fame), and he set about working with them to bring the novel to the screen. As has become the norm for his career though, Redford doesn’t like to take chances and will not do anything that ‘dirties’ the image he has created for himself. Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet was hired to adapt the novel for Redford and provided a screenplay of great weight. Redford took one look at the screenplay and became immediately uncomfortable with playing an alcoholic (erm… how big a fan of the book were you Rob?), and specifically playing it as it was written. He spoke with Zanuck and Brown, and other writers were hired to try their hand at the screenplay.
Draft after draft was written. Each one sanitised the character of Galvin, until eventually all the foibles, flaws and addictions that made the character so well shaded, interesting and unique to play were diluted out. The original script by Mamet lingered on though and became a sort of hushed-whisper of brilliance within the industry. Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, Frank Sinatra, and Cary Grant all wanted to be a part or take some role, lead or otherwise, in the film but Redford hung on and continued to water down the script.
Eventually he got bored and walked away from the project. Zanuck and Brown decided to try and get a director of real integrity attached, get him to provide input on the script debacle and then look at casting issues. Sidney Lumet came on board fresh from a run of pictures that included Serpico, Murder on the Orient Express, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, Equus, (*cough* The Wiz *cough*) and Prince of the City. He went through all the drafts that had been commissioned, thought the Mamet one was best and said he would commit to directing if that was the script they used.
Mamet was brought back in to freshen up his original script, more specifically the ending. Initially he’d refused to put the outcome of the verdict into the script. As he has become famous for, the hugely acclaimed playwright turned screenwriter turned director felt (and feels to this day) that not everything “should be explained” and that an audience shouldn’t be “spoon-fed”. Mamet feels that you should leave a movie or a play wanting to talk, discuss, debate and put yourself and your own thoughts and feelings into the character and the plot and question proceedings. It was Lumet who convinced him to alter his ending. [the director would go on to ‘add’ to Mamet’s script by filming two versions of a scene, post-verdict. In the one not used, the final shots we see are of Newman's character walking away from the courtroom in a series of long shots, never seeing what happens after he leaves the courthouse.]
And then, best of all, Lumet cast Newman. Paul Newman’s career is unique, interesting and will truly stand the test of time as being one of the greatest of all time because he is only interested in the work and the character. For a great looking man (and he was!) he had absolutely no vanity. What made him so great is exactly what makes Robert Redford so bland and incapable of being able to pull off a role like Frank Galvin.
Galvin provides Newman with the foundations for his greatest performances. He looks old, weary and beaten. It is the greatest presentation of a full blown alcoholic that you ever see. Anyone who has ever so much as depended on alcohol a little too heavily just once in their life can see this. Newman shows us a man who visibly looks as if his bones truly ache with every movement, whose hangovers pain him greatly and who captures the uncontrollable tremors between drinks with absolute perfection. He’s backed sublimely by an astonishing supporting performances; Jack Warden is the old law partner; Charlotte Rampling is the woman, also an alcoholic, with whom Galvin unwisely falls in love; James Mason is the rival lawyer; Milo O’Shea is the judge; Wesley Addy is one of the accused doctors.
It all just comes together like the most perfectly designed ‘machine’ – the cogs of the performances, the script, the direction et all are all whirling away but you never see or feel any of it. Imagine Russell Crowe as Galvin and Renee Zelwegger as Laura Fischer. You’d never be able to stop, for one second, seeing the grating grand-standing of two “performers”. Here, you only ever see the characters – as it should be.
The screenplay by David Mamet is, for me, the greatest thing he has written and just take a second to look at the guy’s CV to see how bold a compliment that is. His script is a wonder of great dialogue, fully realised characters and a structure that, under Lumet’s guidance, pays off in the big courtroom scene that we all need to see. It bypasses being “just” a courtroom drama and becomes something bordering on a masterclass in filmmaking. Mamet, Lumet and Newman seem only interested in avoiding the conventions of a standard “drama” or “thriller” and making, instead, a fully complete character study in which the life of the lawyer is more important than his latest case, something Tony Gilroy would acknowledge and pay homage to in a round about sort of way in the excellent Michael Clayton.
For those who thought Newman was just Butch Cassidy or the guy who saved The Towering Inferno or voiced a car in a Pixar flick, then this HAS to be seen. This isn’t just the greatest performance you’ll ever see him give, it’s also one of the greatest performances you will ever see committed to the screen.
Trivia Addicts and fans of Lumet’s 1957 masterpiece Twelve Angry Men should note that two cast members from that movie — Ed Binns and Jack Warden who played jurors #6 and #7, respectively – appear in this movie!
Related Posts:
- THE INDISPENSIBLES – #19: TWELVE ANGRY MEN
- THE INDISPENSIBLES – #9: MARTY
- THE INDISPENSIBLES – #0: THE SET-UP
- THE INDISPENSIBLES – #2: JAWS
- THE INDISPENSIBLES – #16: DO THE RIGHT THING
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