Find Me Guilty

Name: Find Me Guilty
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Crime
Released: March 17, 2006
Duration: 125 min
Rating: 65
Cast: Peter Dinklage, Vin Diesel

2006

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Ratings

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7.4

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7.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Ratings

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Find Me Guilty

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Movie Details & Credits

Freestyle Releasing | Release Date: March 17, 2006 | R

Starring: Peter Dinklage, Vin Diesel

Summary: This film is based on the true story of Giacomo "Jackie Dee" DiNorscio. After years of federal investigation, 20 members of the New Jersey Lucchese crime family are brought to court on 76 charges of various crimes. Already in the midst of serving a 30-year sentence, Jackie is offered an opportunity to shorten his time by testifying againstThis film is based on the true story of Giacomo "Jackie Dee" DiNorscio. After years of federal investigation, 20 members of the New Jersey Lucchese crime family are brought to court on 76 charges of various crimes. Already in the midst of serving a 30-year sentence, Jackie is offered an opportunity to shorten his time by testifying against many of his closest friends. But Jackie refuses to betray his "family," and goes so far as to defend himself in what will ultimately become the longest criminal trial of its time. [Freestyle Releasing]… Expand

Director: Sidney Lumet

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 125 min

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Critic Reviews

100

G. Allen Johnson

Perhaps no director has so thoroughly explored the American concept of police work, prosecution and legal justice, and Find Me Guilty is a film that brings the 81-year-old filmmaker thematically full circle, back to his starting point, 1957's "12 Angry Men." Read full review

Michael Phillips

Lumet has retained a lifetime of technique and sharp instincts regarding how to make a courtroom full of people worth watching. Read full review

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. Read full review

Sean Axmaker

The lack of irony, let alone ambiguity, in an upside world in which mobsters are the underdogs, should sink the film, but Lumet's laid-back professionalism and Diesel's big-hearted performance give it an affable buoyancy. Read full review

Nathan Rabin

A new courtroom comedy that finds Diesel chewing scenery in a role originally intended, and seemingly custom-made, for Joe Pesci. Read full review

Rene Rodriguez

There's never a question which side the movie is rooting for during the trial, and the light tone trivializes what might have been a much more intriguing exploration of the American legal system. Read full review

Wesley Morris

The best I can say about his (Diesel)performance is that it's charmingly terrible. Read full review

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User Reviews

PatcatL.

Mar 27, 2008

One of the best movies since Good fellows. How did you get from the Brunos to the Lascees. I took a cab!!! I almost fell over laughing. I love the part on how Judge Fienstien and Jackie build a Bond, I love the part on how the judge handles Jackies Mothers death, I hope all judges would One of the best movies since Good fellows. How did you get from the Brunos to the Lascees. I took a cab!!! I almost fell over laughing. I love the part on how Judge Fienstien and Jackie build a Bond, I love the part on how the judge handles Jackies Mothers death, I hope all judges would show respect and compassion as judge Fienstein showed Jackie. I give the movie two thumbs up!!!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

JadiannahL.

Mar 19, 2006

If there are certain types of movies you are drawn to yet you occasionally step out of the norm to see. This is a great movie to do so with. Giving an awarg winning performance now that he's finally been given the chance, Vin Diesel has a versatile gift to portray anyone he wants. I If there are certain types of movies you are drawn to yet you occasionally step out of the norm to see. This is a great movie to do so with. Giving an awarg winning performance now that he's finally been given the chance, Vin Diesel has a versatile gift to portray anyone he wants. I applaud you Mr. Diesel. Thank you Sidney for giving him the chance to prove to those who said "No, he can't" that "Yes, he can.... act."… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

ChrisF.

Mar 19, 2007

I don't get the complaints about this film. What seems to get lost among viewers is these are not nice guys. You are not suppose to root for them. That being said the film is framed by Peter Dinkage's character and the DA. One talks about be a nation of laws and the other screams I don't get the complaints about this film. What seems to get lost among viewers is these are not nice guys. You are not suppose to root for them. That being said the film is framed by Peter Dinkage's character and the DA. One talks about be a nation of laws and the other screams when he hears that one of the jury thinks Jackie is cute and reminds us all that they (Jackie and his buddies) kill people. There is no moral judgement made by this movie. You have to figure it out for yourselves. I will take a film like this every time. Disel and Dinkage are both excellent.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Spangle

Nov 4, 2017

Sidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty tells a story that is almost too absurd to believe. Sent to prison for thirty years on a variety of charges, Jackie DiNoscio (Vin Diesel) is given a chance to turn state's witness against his friends in the Lucchese crime family. However, he refuses. What ensuesSidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty tells a story that is almost too absurd to believe. Sent to prison for thirty years on a variety of charges, Jackie DiNoscio (Vin Diesel) is given a chance to turn state's witness against his friends in the Lucchese crime family. However, he refuses. What ensues is a nearly two year trial involving Jackie and the rest of the leading members of the Lucchese crime family in New Jersey. Complicating matters is the fact that, not only are all defendants being tried at the same time, but Jackie has opted to act as his own attorney. Funny, terrifically acted, and an engrossing drama in its own right, Find Me Guilty is so ludicrous and absurd that it just has to be true.

At the heart of this film's success is the performance of Vin Diesel. Starring as Jackie DiNoscio, Diesel is in pretty much every shot aside from the brief moments shown from the prosecution's discussions about the case. Otherwise, this is Diesel picture. Casual, likable, and magnanimous, Diesel easily sells DiNoscio as a man who can be rooted for without endorsing what he did in his life. We see him as an honest and laid back who is one of the few men caught up in this trial who admits what he has done. There is no hiding that he is a bad man who did a lot of wrong, but DiNoscio is uninterested in hiding that information. Instead, the trial is personal for him as he tries to defend himself (and his friends as a by-product due to the nature of the charges) and examine how some of the people he trusted could betray him by testifying. Wearing his heart on his sleeve, Diesel nails Jackie in the more emotional scenes of cross-examining his cousin and in the more comical moments of him playing up his charm to the jury. In all, Diesel manages to make this mobster into a man who the audience is comfortable rooting for, which is perhaps the great accomplishment one could give his acting. He is honest, he is raw, and above all, he is intensely real. Diesel shows all sides of this man - his anger, his philandering, his drug use, his drug dealing, and his love of friends and family alike - and makes him into a genuine and, somehow, good hearted person.

A lot of this is due to the film's great script that is very natural. Sidney Lumet's films obviously ride on the actors and the natural dialogue given to them with Find Me Guilty being no exception. The film is not one that is ever particularly stagy and the dialogue captures this perfectly. Jokes delivered by Diesel or one-liners rely on his natural charisma in part, but also in the film's dialogue that makes these lines never come off as written. Instead, they include the imperfections, the awkward phrasing, pace, and delivery, of a natural in-the-moment story or joke. In a similar vein, the script manages to balance this ambitious endeavor of showing the lengthiest trial in the history of the federal courts quite nicely. The film never feels crowded or abbreviated. It includes the important moments, the important conversations, and the important characters, without ever allowing the picture be weighted down with too much information. Rather, it shows us what we need to know, shows how it fits in, and then never belabors the point or clutters the rest of the film. It is an unfussy, focused, and stripped back that covers what it needs to without ever dipping into excess. It builds the character of Jackie - both personally and professionally - and it shows the important days of the trial, the crucial conversations, and the relevant cases. It is a film that may be slowly paced and possibly overlong, but it is not filled with much clutter whatsoever, making it one that is hard to argue should have been cut down.

What really captures the eccentricity of this film perfectly is often the way in which Lumet opts to capture the action. Typically, courtroom dramas are shot with a heavy array of close-ups or medium shots. While this is occasionally still true in Find Me Guilty, Lumet largely relies upon a handheld camera or extreme high-angle shots to showcase the action in and out of the courtroom. Deep focus in the prison shows Jackie walk into his cell in the distance as other inmates closer to the camera mill about on their own. The same in the courtroom shows defendants as they laugh or fidget in their seats. In the hallway, a handheld camera gets stuck behind a crowd of observers as they all cram into the elevator with the deep focus giving us the belief that we too are stuck behind this massive throng of people. In the car as Jackie is transported over, the handheld camera whips between Jackie and the cops like a person's head would. As Jackie argues his case, Lumet often uses the aforementioned high-angle shot, creating a feeling of the audience being no different than another observer, sitting high up in the rafters of the courtroom. The same is continued in the prosecutors office with Lumet's high-angle shots creating a fly-on-the-wall experience.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

NedF.

Mar 16, 2006

Reasonably good acting and dialogue help tell this unusual, "based-on-true-events" story. Ultimately, however, this courtroom drama suffers, because although apparently none of the characters in the film has any idea what the jury will decide, the audience has had two hours of clues Reasonably good acting and dialogue help tell this unusual, "based-on-true-events" story. Ultimately, however, this courtroom drama suffers, because although apparently none of the characters in the film has any idea what the jury will decide, the audience has had two hours of clues lopsided in one direction, not from courtroom evidence as much as from the dramatic structure.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

amheretojudge

Sep 17, 2018

the premise doesn't call for it..

Find Me Guilty Find Me Guilty is a character driven courtroom drama about the infamous DiNorscio case that is considered to be one of the longest American criminal case on record. Lumet's directorial comeback comes with lots of expectations and it may notthe premise doesn't call for it..

Find Me Guilty Find Me Guilty is a character driven courtroom drama about the infamous DiNorscio case that is considered to be one of the longest American criminal case on record. Lumet's directorial comeback comes with lots of expectations and it may not have been delivered entirely but certainly is thoroughly entertaining. Not only the courtroom drama is edited aptly but the selective choices on the off court dramatic sequences too are just immensely pleasing to encounter that makes it supremely watchable despite of having issues on bits and pieces. The script doesn't have any definite structure, since the premise doesn't call for it, but this is where Lumet comes in and binds it all with his experience. As mentioned the narration might be scattered and it does add tons of friction and makes it difficult to flow smoothly. The performance is probably the weakest link of all, especially the core of it. Diesel fails on all level to justify its part despite of being offered such a wide range while on the supporting cast Dinklage delivers unflinchingly along with Slattery's moving performance. The background is non-effective and in fact a bit questionable but has amazing cinematography, plausible sound department and fine editing. The dialogues may get cheesy but some of it gets right on the nerves and leaves an appealing impression. The humor imputed in here doesn't seem forced in fact, is an essential bit on the characteristics of the characters that unfortunately latter gets mutilated on the court. Lumet's evergreen finesse on delivering a courtroom drama and slick humor that enlightens the tone every now and then are the high points of the feature. Find Me Guilty can be viewers' response by being condemned on enjoying these shallow yet gripping arguments that will not actually change a dime on the cinematic virtuoso.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JimG.

Jul 1, 2006

Stereotypical mobster movie from a different angle - draws in stereotypical mobster film actors. Yeah, based on real story, but same old stuff.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

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