The Verdict Information

The Verdict is a 1982 courtroom drama film which tells the story of a down-on-his-luck alcoholic lawyer who pushes a medical malpractice case in order to improve his own situation, but discovers along the way that he is doing the right thing. Since the lawsuit involves a woman in a persistent vegetative state, the movie is cast in the shadow of the Karen Ann Quinlan case. The movie stars Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason, Milo O'Shea, and Lindsay Crouse.

Directed by Sidney Lumet, the film was adapted by David Mamet from the novel by Barry Reed and is not a remake of the 1946 film of the same name.

The Verdict garnered critical acclaim and box office success. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Actor in a Leading Role (Paul Newman), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (James Mason), Best Director (Sidney Lumet), Best Picture and Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (David Mamet).

Plot

Frank Galvin (Paul Newman), once a promising graduate of Boston College Law School and a lawyer at an elite Boston law firm, is now an alcoholic ambulance chaser who has lost all of his four cases over the last three years. As a favor, his former partner and friend Mickey (Jack Warden) throws him a medical malpractice case where it's all but assured that the defense will settle for a large amount. The case involves a young mother who was possibly administered the wrong anesthetic and is now in a coma. Her sister and brother-in-law are hoping for a settlement to properly care for the victim, and Frank assures them they have a strong case. Meanwhile, Frank becomes romantically involved with a woman he meets at a local bar, Laura (Charlotte Rampling).

Frank visits the coma-stricken young mother and is deeply affected. He then meets with the defendants: the Archdiocese of Boston, who run the Catholic hospital where the incident took place. As expected, the archdiocese offers a fairly substantial amount of money to settle out of court, but Frank declines the offer, as he fears that this may be his last chance to do something right as a lawyer, and that merely taking the handout would render him "lost." Everyone, including the presiding judge and the mother's relatives, is stunned by Frank's decision.

Things quickly go wrong for Frank: his clients' brother-in-law finds out from "the other side" that he has turned down a $210,000 settlement, and angrily confronts Frank; his star medical expert disappears; a hastily arranged substitute's credentials and testimony are called into serious question on the witness stand; his opponent"?the high-priced attorney Ed Concannon (James Mason)"?has at his disposal a large legal team that is masterful with the press; the presiding judge (Milo O'Shea) takes great strides to obstruct Frank's questioning; and any witnesses present in the operating room refuse to testify about what, if anything, went wrong.

While looking for cigarettes in Laura's handbag, Mickey discovers a cheque from Concannon"?evidently she's a spy providing information on Frank's legal strategy to the opposition. An enraged Frank strikes Laura in the face with great force on their next meeting, knocking her to the floor. Even then, when he has the clear opportunity to have the case declared a mistrial, Frank decides to continue to trial.

Frank's big break occurs when he discovers the whereabouts of a lone witness quickly hushed after the incident. Her shattering testimony"?that she was asked to change her notes on the admitting form after the incident to hide an egregious error by one of the defendants"?stuns the entire courtroom. A distressed Concannon's attempts at discrediting her, serve only to further cement her veracity, even after the judge declares her testimony stricken from the record on legal technicalities. Frank delivers a brief but moving closing argument, beseeching the jury to pursue "truth and justice." When the jury returns, they find for Frank's client and then ask whether they are limited to the amount sought by the plaintiffs. When the presiding judge resignedly replies they are not, it is implied the award will far exceed expectations.

As Frank is congratulated by his clients, Mickey, and colleagues and strangers alike, he catches a glimpse of Laura watching him from afar. The final shot is of Frank deeply contemplating his new and unfamiliarly bright lease on life as he sips on a coffee, ignoring his telephone's continuous ringing from a call from Laura.

Cast

• Paul Newman as Frank Galvin
• Charlotte Rampling as Laura Fischer
• Jack Warden as Mickey Morrissey
• James Mason as Ed Concannon
• Milo O'Shea as Judge Hoyle
• Lindsay Crouse as Kaitlin Costello
• Edward Binns as Bishop Brophy
• Julie Bovasso as Maureen Rooney
• Roxanne Hart as Sally Doneghy
• James Handy as Kevin Doneghy
• Wesley Addy as Dr. Towler
• Joe Seneca as Dr. Thompson
• Lewis J. Stadlen as Dr. Gruber
• Kent Broadhurst as Joseph Alito
• Colin Stinton as Billy
• Tobin Bell as Courtroom Observer
• Bruce Willis as Courtroom Observer (uncredited)

Production

Film rights to the novel were bought by the team of Richard Zanuck and David Brown. A number of actors expressed interest in the project because of the strength of the lead role, including Roy Scheider, William Holden, Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant and Dustin Hoffman. Arthur Hiller was originally attached to direct and David Mamet hired to write a screenplay. Neither Zanuck-Brown or Hiller liked Mamet's script, so Hiller left the project and the producers commissioned another screenplay, from Jay Presson Allen. The producers liked this script and were approached by Robert Redford, who liked the project but did not like Allen's script. Redford suggested they hire James Bridges as a writer-director and Bridges wrote several drafts of the screenplay, however Redford was not happy with any of them and Bridges left the project. Redford then began having meetings with Sydney Pollack without telling the producers, which irritated them so they fired Redford off the project.

Zanuck and Brown then hired Sidney Lumet to direct, sending him all copies of the script. After several rewrites, director Sidney Lumet realized the story's original grittiness was fast devolving and chose David Mamet's original script as the one he would direct. This was agreed to by Paul Newman who ultimately agreed to star.

Bruce Willis has an uncredited background appearance as an extra, in one of his first film appearances. After the verdict is read for the plaintiff, Willis can be seen to the left of Paul Newman's head and can be seen smiling. Another notable star in this very same instance, but to the right is Tobin Bell.

Reception

The Verdict holds a 96% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. In a poll of 500 films held by Empire magazine, it was voted 254th Greatest Movie of all time. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked the screenplay #91 on its list of 101 Greatest Screenplays ever written. Richard D. Pepperman praised the scene in which Judge Hoyle eats breakfast and offers Galvin coffee as "a terrific use of objects, making for a believable judge in his personal, comfortable and suitable place, as well as a Physical Action (motion) that demonstrates the subtext of the Judge's objective (in support of the insurance company, the doctor and their attorney) without an abundance of expository dialogue."

American Film Institute

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
  • Frank Galvin " Nominated Hero
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers " #75
• AFI's 10 Top 10 " #4 Courtroom Drama