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Night Falls on Manhattan (1997)

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15 Nutzerkommentare insgesamt

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Sydney Lumet looks into honesty and corruption again., 14. Mai 2005

Author: mnfried von Rochester, New York

The theme of corruption is examined in almost every Sydney Lumet film. He is fascinated by power and the use and misuse of it. The cast of this character-driven film is played to perfection by Andy Garcia, James Gandolfini, Lena Olin, Shiek Mahmud-Bey, Ian Holm, Ron Leibman, Richard Dreyfuss, Sam Vigoda and Paul Guilfoyle. They are all in the same gut-wrenching movie about the prosecutors who do not operate in a black-and-white world, rather in one of shades of gray. There are two especially touching relationships. One is between a father and son, the other is the love story between Andy Garcia and Lena Olin that survives this very tense and complex situation in a film about an important subject. I recommend it.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Lumet redux- Municipal corruption aplenty, 11. April 2003
Author: george.schmidt (george.schmidt@hbo.com) von fairview, nj

NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN (1997) *** Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss, Ian Holm, Lena Olin, James Gandolfini, Ron Leibman, Shiek Mahmud-Bey. Excellent, gritty and absorbing crime drama dealing with Garcia as an assistant DA who becomes an overnight sensation after tackling a disturbing case of a drug dealer killing three cops on a raid gone awry that leads to a sticky web of corruption, lies, deceit and ultimately personal integrity. Garcia and Holm as his cop father, give superb performances as does Leibman as his teeth gnashing mentor (a delightful to watch turn) and Gandolfini as Holm's partner with some skeletons in his closet. Based on Robert Daley's book `Tainted Evidence' and adapted by the film's director Sidney Lumet with colorful panache of a true helmsman. – Letterman stooge Leonard Tepper is an extra in the jury (!)

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Must see for any law student:, 12. November 2006

Author: maureenwheat von United States

The plot was predictable; what was VERY good is the realistic sour compromises that atty's make. that alone warrants this movie as MUST SEE for students. I went to St.Johns University (undergraduate legal education), as did Sean Casey (AndyGarcia) No punches were pulled there, and that was reflected in the protagonist effort to make ethical decisions. There was one line that summarizes so much: "...if you want clean hands, become a priest. The degree to which police, criminal attys, DA's and all parties with knowledge about a criminal action get ugly is very true. This hopefully will take the hot air out of many law students, puffed up with him or herself. Well done and accurate, even if predictable. The DEVIL is in the movie detail.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
At what price justice?, 25. März 2003

Author: George Parker von Orange County, CA USA

In "Night Falls on Manhattan", Garcia plays a rookie NYC District Attorney who finds himself struggling to cope with moral dilemmas and compromised principles in the "real world" of lawyering. Offering a solid cast with good performances, this Hollywood tinged film builds quickly and maintains momentum while digging into fundamental issues which bedevil characters from cops to judges in their personal and professional lives. Worth a look for anyone into dramas, especially those dealing with questions of ethics. (B)

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If you want clean hands, become a priest, 14. April 2008

Author: lastliberal von Florida

Fascinating story of politics and justice in New York, or anywhere else for that matter. Most don't realize that on 3% of murder cases ever see a jury; most are plea bargained. But, there are those, like the one depicted here, that are essential, not for justice, but for the political ambitions of the DA and Mayor.

Sidney Lumet (Find Me Guilty, Dog Day Afternoon) likes working with ethical questions, and he did a good job here in presenting a world that is not black and white, but gray.

I generally do not like Andy Garcia (Ocean's Eleven, The Godfather Part III) or Ron Leibman (Zorro, the Gay Blade), but that may be because of their politics off the screen. It affects my judgment. I have to say that they both gave interesting performances that made this film worth watch. But, there were a lot of good stars in this film: Sir Ian Holm (Chariots of First) as Garcia's father, James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) as a corrupt cop and Holm's partner, Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus, The Goodbye Girl, Jaws) as a liberal lawyer, Colm Feore (Bon Cop, Bad Cop, The Red Violin, Chicago) as an ADA that wants the top job, and Lena Olin (Enemies: A Love Story, Chocolat, "Alias") as the love interest.

Very good acting throughout and a compelling story.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Another good one from Lumet, 23. Mai 2003
Author: KGB-Greece-Patras von Greece

Only reason I decided to see this is that it's made by S.Lumet. Not something really original anymore, I guess, but quite interesting, it delivers the goods and managed to keep my interest till the end. I have decided to see all Lumet stuff I can. As every Lumet film I have seen, it touches interesting topics with a non-conventional way. Topics here are big drug-dealers & police corruption (again), law system, as well as others.

But I have to say that his CRITICAL CARE (1997, same year) was FAR better , at least for my taste. NIGHT FALLS... suffered a bit from lack of climax near the end, but it was interesting and well made anyway.

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2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Good movie that was based on The Larry Davis Story, 1. November 2004
Author: glory2godpd von NYC, USA

This film is definitely based on the Larry Davis incident that took place in the late 80's where corrupt cops tried to shake down a drug dealer who wanted out of their "system"(dealers who payed off cops to rob other dealers). When he got out due to the death of his infant daughter, they invaded his home, he fought back by killing and wounding some officers and escaped leading to a dangerous manhunt in NYC. When they finally caught him (an old family relative snicthced on him), false accusations were brought up by the police and the media to portray him as a ruthless thug who ran away after killing the cops when all he wanted to do was leave the organization involving crooked cops and drug dealers. He is still serving time in Rikers Island fighting for a new trial.

Check out the documentary called THE LARRY DAVIS STORY which won an award for Best Documentary in the Urbanworld Film Festival in 2003.

However, it serves well on film and Sidney Lumet is great act capturing the look and feel of NYC in the early 90's. It has a "Prince of the City" feel to it.

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3 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Lumet and the cast shine..., 14. August 2003
Author: x111b3825 von Nowhereman, Norseland

I really have no idea what motivates Sidney Lumet's choice of movies to do, even though I've read his book "Making Movies," which sheds a lot of light on his decision making process.

If I had to take a guess, I might say that perhaps he wants a variety, and doesn't calculate the risk involved with certain works that have obviously turned out to be major flops. Or maybe he does know the risk and he just doesn't care. Now remember, though I'm sure even the "master" critics have jumped on and trashed some of his better work, if you place something like "Prince of the City" or "Equus" next to "The Wiz," "Running on Empty" and "Serpico" next to "Critical Care," wow! I mean you are just asking for trouble.

Regardless, this guy is a filmmaker.

As with anything, there are people who will dog this and say it was slow and Lapaglia was over the top or whatever the multitude of criticisms may be, "the lighting created an unwanted mood" (by whose standards), "the script had flaws" (oh did it? What were they?) and the list goes on. However without getting into every nook and cranny available, I will just say if you enjoy a good drama, you may enjoy this.

For the decent side of Lumet's work, this is a pretty fair example and on every front, I think it works out okay. Do I have any criticisms? None worth more than "I liked it or didn't." I did in fact like it by the way. It might be considered standard fare or even dated a bit by some and as a result, not as powerful as it might be otherwise, but it is a good example of Sidney Lumet's better filmmaking and not a bad story to boot.

Dig Colm Feore's role here. I like this guy and though he's probably found in the shadows more than in the spotlight, he is one vastly talented actor. I caught him last year in the lead for "My Fair Lady" at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada and though he really probably is an acquired taste, he is a talent to be reckoned with for sure. It would be nice to see him garner larger roles since talent like this sure seems wasted on bit parts.

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4 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
It's not, 11. Februar 1999
Author: John Mankin (mankin@rff.org)

"Night Falls on Manhattan" (meaningless title:**1/2 out of ****). A politically ambitious chief district attorney (Ron Leibman) assigns an upcoming young assistant D.A. (Andy Garcia) the task of prosecuting. Things proceed so smoothly in the first hour for our young hero that you just know that embarrassing revelations are going to come crashing down around him in the second hour, which they do.

This is familiar turf for veteran filmaker Sidney Lumet, and he has made a fairly compelling film, despite the miscasting of British Holm and Cuban Garcia as father and son, respectively, although Holm does manage an amazingly authentic Queens accent. Leibman overacts outrageously as the head D.A.; one wonders how anyone as abrasive as he is would be able to get so far!

Some sequences are a little too pat for comfort. Still "Manhattan" makes for engrossing if predictable drama, exploring once again the extent to which the cumbersome wheels of justice have to be manipulated. Richard Dreyfuss is pretty good in a surprisingly small role as the drug dealers's Dershowitz-like defense attorney, who turns out to be more willing to bend the rules than you would expect, considering his primary motive for taking the case.

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1 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
"I'm sorry, what did you say?", 14. Februar 2004
Author: Henry Erlenwein (herlenwein@msn.com) von USA

This is a good film but I found myself hitting the "back" button on my remote more than once; in fact quite a bit. Dialogue is mumbled or muffled, by many of the actors, throughout the whole film. It's a shame because a lot of this fidelity problem occurs at key points in the storyline. I was sorry I was'nt viewing a DVD, instead of VHS, so I could turn on the subtitles. The irony here is that a courtroom playback of a police radio call-in which should sound garbled is absolutely and incorrectly clear as crystal. The acting is great but the casting of Andy Garcia as the son of Ian Holm is a bit of a stretch. I guess he takes after his departed mother. Ron Leibman is really "over the top" as the District Attorney. James Gandolfini and Richard Dreyfuss are totally credible in their respective roles as cop and defense attorney. Lastly there's Lena Olin who, though underused here, can add class and beauty to any film. She deserved a bigger part. All in all with Sidney Lumet directing this is a worthy film and if you live in New York City you will appreciate it even more.

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