As a Paul Newman fan it was a foregone conclusion that I would enjoy this film. I was not prepared for how much and though I'd read the rave reviews, the process of experiencing this couldn't have been anticipated. I was wholly entranced and moved by Newman's broken down character and his powerhouse performance. That closing argument was so good and although I've seen my fair share of movies & tv shows with lawyers making stirring closing arguments to the jury, this one was simple, evocative and Graham Greene-esque in its spiritual questioning.

Brilliant stuff.

How I’ve managed to go so long without ever seeing this film utterly baffles me. I sat enraptured by the whole thing from start to end, and if it hadn’t have been getting on for 3:30am I would have watched to whole thing again once it finished. It has flawless direction from Sidney Lumet, a fantastic script by David Mamet and a truly staggering performance from Paul Newman; the supporting cast also do a superb job. This is a film I can see being revisited many times over the coming years.

If you are a fan of courtroom dramas in any shape or form, then this is a film you don't want to pass up. Paul Newman leads an outstanding cast as a lawyer who decides to resurrect his career after hitting rock bottom by doing what he believes is right. The trial, a medical malpractice lawsuit, is compelling, and the twists provided do well to keep the film from dragging on. The film does and excellent job of pulling the curtain back on the politics that underly major court cases.

The verdict is in: Sidney Lumet's The Verdict is amazing!

This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.

One of the best and most nuanced portrayals of alcoholism I've ever seen. "The Verdict" functions less as a courtroom drama and more like a character study set inside of a courtroom. Unfortunately, this kept some of the film at arm's length for me. Even so, Newman's performance is more than enough of a reason to see this film.

Qué bueno era Lumet para sacar pequeños instantes extraños, elocuentes, precisos de sus actores. Cómo toman una taza de café, cómo desvían la mirada, cómo se acercan a un mostrador, cómo dejan caer un objeto.

Un maestro de la dirección microscópica.

This movie acts as an appendix to Network to me. Granted i've seen very little of Lumet's catalogue, yet there is enough of a narrative similarity between the ones i've seen to form a judgement on the voices coming from a singular source. The sets act as a conduit for the world in which the titular character resides, subject to overbearing and overarching figures acting against the plight of the singular. We are witness to the systematic chiselling down of the character by his prior and current circumstances. Though it has largely optimistic overtones bookended with a pyrrhic victory as compared to the theme of a Kafkaesque nightmare in Network, it exists within a similar framework of a world. Silence plays a pivotal role in accentuating the moments in which there is the use of a score, giving a window into the head space of the protagonist during these moments.

Mind gripping plot where it is shown How much a Verdict of Jury matters a lot in any person's life !!

One of the BEST courtroom Drama.

Solid Sidney Lumet courtroom drama/thriller with a strong Paul Newman in the center of it all.

They don't really make adult dramas like this very often, but even when they do the lead actor never gets to hit a woman unprovoked the way Newman's character does here.

Not even one plot thrill or action but a great and unsung slow burner court-drama which benefits from the sharp moral compass and the director's vision.

Some exquisite acting, the great Paul Newman provokes chills as the alcoholic lawyer and the fantastic British James Mason steals every scene he is in. Both of them should have won the Oscar this year.