Find Me Guilty: Grade A

A
Find Me Guilty
Vin Diesel, Ron Silver, Annabella Sciorria, Peter Dinklage
Director=Sidney Lumet

Vin Diesel can act. Who knew? This is a lightweight piece, with VD as a mafia gangster defending himself in court along with 20 other mobsters who have attorneys. He wisecracks his way to acquittal. Only the fact that it is a true story, using actual trial transcripts, makes it believable. The directing adheres to a realist theme, which kept me engaged throughout. VD's performance is funny but genuine, so the film is not a comedy. The cool jazz music is excellent, although unrelated to the movie. Mobsters don’t like jazz, do they? Just laying down a sound track is an improvement over the usual use of a score to inform us what we are supposed to feel. A rousing Louis Palma number is thrown in for the credits. Ron Silver does an outstanding job, as does Peter Dinklage. Annabella Sciorria leaps off the screen in her brief scene. She has incredible presence.