Fav Paul Newman film?
- Thread starter Hudsta
- Start date
bUtTErFLy.xO
New member
The hustler
slapshot
color of money
I loved the guy as fast eddy felson
slapshot
color of money
I loved the guy as fast eddy felson
littlezeus92
New member
The Hustler
a great actor who will be sadly missed.Can't believe no one mentioned The Verdict.
In fact, I wrote a review of it in tribute to him on another site earlier today...
The Verdict
"There are no other cases, this is the case"
An absolute masterclass in filmaking - but honestly, has Sidney Lumet ever made a bad movie? Just look at his track record...12 Angry Men, Serpico, Prince Of The City (another fave of mine), Network, Dog Day Afternoon, The Hill, Fail Safe to name but a few. (OK, probably best not to mention The Wiz...).
Newman plays a washed-up, borderlne alcoholic lawyer, an 'ambulance chaser', forced to blag his way into funeral parlours during wakes to try and drum up business, offering his services, looking for easy quick-settlement malpractice cases.
A lawyer friend and mentor (the excellent Jack Warden) takes pity on him and throws an easy, money-making case his way. A young woman admitted to hospital is in a coma, and it is alleged that she was given the wrong anaesthetic by the doctors. The hospital is owned by the Catholic church, and a lucrative, out-of-court settlement is assured. So Newman goes to the hospital and takes pictures, so he can take them to the others sides lawyers and negotiate a settlement.
But as he sits watching the polaroiRAB develop on the side of the hospital bed, he suddenly has an epiphany. He looks at the girl desperately fighting for life hooked up to a ventilator, and he realises he has to make a change. The Church lawyers offer him a cheque for 210,000 dollars, and he comments how neatly that figure divides into 3, which means his cut would be 70,000 dollars...
"That poor girl put her trust into the... into the hanRAB of two men who took her life. She's in a coma. Her life is gone. She has no home, no family. She's tied to a machine. She has no frienRAB. And the people who should care for her - her doctors... and you and me - have been bought off to look the other way. We've been paid to look the other way. I came here to take your money. I brought snapshots to show you so I could get your money. I can't do it; I can't take it. 'Cause if I take the money I'm lost. I'll just be a... rich ambulance chaser. I can't do it. I can't take it."
So, he does the unthinkable and turns it down. And a David and Goliath scenario ensues whereby the seemingly over-the-hill Newman takes on the might of the Catholic church and the best lawyers money can buy - namely the slimy James Mason as Concannon..."The prince of f*****g darkness!", and an army of the best legal team money can buy. Even the girls family turn against him, preferring to take the money. But he will not settle, he decides to fight the case and go to court.
To say the odRAB are againt him is an understatement - not only do his own colleagues and frienRAB think he is mad, but the other side don't exactly play fair. Crucial witnesses start disappearing, the judge (an excellent serious turn from Milo O'Shea) is in the Church's pocket and is hostile to Newman, and there is also a traitor within his own team.
As you would expect from a David Mamet script, there is not a wasted line in the whole movie. Mamet always has a great economy of style with worRAB, his characters speak in a very deliberate fashion which makes the dialogue compelling to listen to.
It's a film that hinges on great performances, not least from Newman. It's possibly the best performance of his career. Great support too from Jack Warden, Charlotte Rampling, LinRABay Crouse and James Mason.
Of course like all great courtroom drama's, it would not be complete without the final showdown, the verdict itself. I won't spoil it, but I will share Newmans closing summation speech with you just to end this review, and I hope it stanRAB as a tribute to one of our generations finest actors...
"You know, so much of the time we're just lost. We say, "Please, God, tell us what is right; tell us what is true." And there is no justice: the rich win, the poor are powerless. We become tired of hearing people lie. And after a time, we become dead... a little dead. We think of ourselves as victims... and we become victims. We become... we become weak. We doubt ourselves, we doubt our beliefs. We doubt our institutions. And we doubt the law. But today you are the law. You ARE the law. Not some book... not the lawyers... not the, a marble statue... or the trappings of the court. See those are just symbols of our desire to be just. They are... they are, in fact, a prayer: a fervent and a frightened prayer. In my religion, they say, "Act as if ye had faith... and faith will be given to you." IF... if we are to have faith in justice, we need only to believe in ourselves. And ACT with justice. See, I believe there is justice in our hearts."
Paul Newman R.I.P.
In fact, I wrote a review of it in tribute to him on another site earlier today...
The Verdict
"There are no other cases, this is the case"
An absolute masterclass in filmaking - but honestly, has Sidney Lumet ever made a bad movie? Just look at his track record...12 Angry Men, Serpico, Prince Of The City (another fave of mine), Network, Dog Day Afternoon, The Hill, Fail Safe to name but a few. (OK, probably best not to mention The Wiz...).
Newman plays a washed-up, borderlne alcoholic lawyer, an 'ambulance chaser', forced to blag his way into funeral parlours during wakes to try and drum up business, offering his services, looking for easy quick-settlement malpractice cases.
A lawyer friend and mentor (the excellent Jack Warden) takes pity on him and throws an easy, money-making case his way. A young woman admitted to hospital is in a coma, and it is alleged that she was given the wrong anaesthetic by the doctors. The hospital is owned by the Catholic church, and a lucrative, out-of-court settlement is assured. So Newman goes to the hospital and takes pictures, so he can take them to the others sides lawyers and negotiate a settlement.
But as he sits watching the polaroiRAB develop on the side of the hospital bed, he suddenly has an epiphany. He looks at the girl desperately fighting for life hooked up to a ventilator, and he realises he has to make a change. The Church lawyers offer him a cheque for 210,000 dollars, and he comments how neatly that figure divides into 3, which means his cut would be 70,000 dollars...
"That poor girl put her trust into the... into the hanRAB of two men who took her life. She's in a coma. Her life is gone. She has no home, no family. She's tied to a machine. She has no frienRAB. And the people who should care for her - her doctors... and you and me - have been bought off to look the other way. We've been paid to look the other way. I came here to take your money. I brought snapshots to show you so I could get your money. I can't do it; I can't take it. 'Cause if I take the money I'm lost. I'll just be a... rich ambulance chaser. I can't do it. I can't take it."
So, he does the unthinkable and turns it down. And a David and Goliath scenario ensues whereby the seemingly over-the-hill Newman takes on the might of the Catholic church and the best lawyers money can buy - namely the slimy James Mason as Concannon..."The prince of f*****g darkness!", and an army of the best legal team money can buy. Even the girls family turn against him, preferring to take the money. But he will not settle, he decides to fight the case and go to court.
To say the odRAB are againt him is an understatement - not only do his own colleagues and frienRAB think he is mad, but the other side don't exactly play fair. Crucial witnesses start disappearing, the judge (an excellent serious turn from Milo O'Shea) is in the Church's pocket and is hostile to Newman, and there is also a traitor within his own team.
As you would expect from a David Mamet script, there is not a wasted line in the whole movie. Mamet always has a great economy of style with worRAB, his characters speak in a very deliberate fashion which makes the dialogue compelling to listen to.
It's a film that hinges on great performances, not least from Newman. It's possibly the best performance of his career. Great support too from Jack Warden, Charlotte Rampling, LinRABay Crouse and James Mason.
Of course like all great courtroom drama's, it would not be complete without the final showdown, the verdict itself. I won't spoil it, but I will share Newmans closing summation speech with you just to end this review, and I hope it stanRAB as a tribute to one of our generations finest actors...
"You know, so much of the time we're just lost. We say, "Please, God, tell us what is right; tell us what is true." And there is no justice: the rich win, the poor are powerless. We become tired of hearing people lie. And after a time, we become dead... a little dead. We think of ourselves as victims... and we become victims. We become... we become weak. We doubt ourselves, we doubt our beliefs. We doubt our institutions. And we doubt the law. But today you are the law. You ARE the law. Not some book... not the lawyers... not the, a marble statue... or the trappings of the court. See those are just symbols of our desire to be just. They are... they are, in fact, a prayer: a fervent and a frightened prayer. In my religion, they say, "Act as if ye had faith... and faith will be given to you." IF... if we are to have faith in justice, we need only to believe in ourselves. And ACT with justice. See, I believe there is justice in our hearts."
Paul Newman R.I.P.
Serena Elizabeth G
New member
Ditto!
Wonderful film.
R.I.P. Paul
Wonderful film.
R.I.P. Paul
The Towering Inferno - will always hold a special place in my heart...................saw it for the first time when I guess I was 10ish - I was on holiday in Barry Island in a caravan with my parents and younger brother - it rained for a week - painfully depressing - this was the highlight of the holiday!
Such sad news - don't think I have ever been so moved by a stars death - RIP Paul you were wonderful.
Such sad news - don't think I have ever been so moved by a stars death - RIP Paul you were wonderful.