Find Me Guilty

March 22, 2006

Rated: R Runtime: 125 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

So Vin Diesel wants to still be making movies when he’s in his 60’s and 70’s. Who does he think he is? Sean Connery? While making the publicity rounds, Diesel had said that, while action movies are great, this movie would be the one that kept him acting even into old age.

Eh, maybe it will. In Sidney Lumet’s “Find Me Guilty,” Diesel tries out his big dramatic acting chops. He gained about 25 extra pounds and wore makeup that made him out to be a mid-40’s kinda guy. He portrays real-life gangster Giacomo DiNorscio who is on trial with 20 or so of his “family” members in what was at the time the longest Mafia trial in U.S. history.

At the time of the trial, DiNorscio was already in prison serving a thirty year drug sentence, but when a federal prosecutor comes knocking with an offer to get him out of jail if he testifies against his compadres, he refuses. DiNorscio was nothing if not loyal to the bitter end. To make things even more interesting, he decided he wanted to defend himself. And, boy howdy!, did he ever do that.

Most of the movie takes place in the courtroom with a few sidebars into DiNorscios life back in prison. It doesn’t matter where he is, though. DiNorscio was a very happy-go-lucky guy and very funny to be around. Despite his seedy past, he would definitely have been a guy to party with. In front of the court, however, his antics weren’t very popular, especially with the judge (Silver) and the head of his own crime family.

Diesel does a decent job portraying the older wiseguy. He looked like he was gunning for an Oscar nomination here, but he didn’t quite hit the mark. But quite a few people will certainly agree that his acting skills are better than they would have guessed. Include me in that list, too.

Posted by Alex | Filed Under 3 Stars, Annabella Sciorra, Drama, Peter Dinklage, R, Ron Silver, Theatrical, Vin Diesel