Q & A

United States

1990

132 Min

Color

1.85:1

English, Spanish

Currently 3.0/5 Stars.
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EXEC Patrick Wachsberger, Mike Wise

PROD Arnon Milchan, Burtt Harris

SCR Sidney Lumet, Edwin Torres

CAST Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante, Charles S. Dutton, Luis Guzmán, Paul Calderon, Patrick O'Neal, Jenny Lumet, International Chrysis, Dominic Chianese, Leonardo Cimino, Fyvush Finkel, Maurice Schell, Thomas Mikal Ford, John Capodice, Frederick Rolf, Gloria Irizarry

Lumet returned to a favorite subject — corruption inside the New York City Police Department — for this blistering adaptation of the novel by Carlito’s Way author (and New York Supreme Court Justice) Edwin Torres. The result is his best film of the 1990s. In a towering performance, Nick Nolte stars as ‘Lt. Mike Brennan,’ an openly racist NYPD cop under questioning for the purportedly “justifiable” homicide of a Latino drug dealer in the line of duty. Leading the charge is an idealistic assistant DA, whose investigation leads him to a serpentine underworld of lurid New York nightlife, a flamboyant drug dealer and the insidious conspiracies of those who deem themselves above the law. —Film Society of Lincoln Center

Director

Sidney Lumet

Sidney Lumet (born June 25, 1924) is an American film director, with over 50 films to his name, including 12 Angry Men (1957), Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976) and The Verdict (1982), all of which, except for Serpico (1973), earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director.

According to The Encyclopedia of Hollywood, Lumet is one of the most prolific directors of the modern era making more than one movie per year on average since his directorial debut in 1957. He is especially noted for his ability to draw major actors to his projects. “Because of his visual economy, strong direction of actors, vigorous storytelling and use of the camera to accent themes,” states Turner Classic Movies. “Lumet produced a body of work that could only be defined as extraordinary.”

One of his steady themes during his career has been the “fragility of justice and the police and their corruption,” according to Thomson’s Biographical Dictionary of Film. He can deliver… read more

Sidney Lumet (born June 25, 1924) is an American film director, with over 50 films to his name, including 12 Angry Men (1957), Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976) and The Verdict (1982), all of which, except for Serpico (1973), earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director.

According to The Encyclopedia of Hollywood, Lumet is one of the most prolific directors of the modern era making more than one movie per year on average since his directorial debut in 1957. He is especially noted for his ability to draw major actors to his projects. “Because of his visual economy, strong direction of actors, vigorous storytelling and use of the camera to accent themes,” states Turner Classic Movies. “Lumet produced a body of work that could only be defined as extraordinary.”

One of his steady themes during his career has been the “fragility of justice and the police and their corruption,” according to Thomson’s Biographical Dictionary of Film. He can deliver “powerhouse performances from lead actors,” and fine work from character actors and is today one of the foremost figures of New York moviemaking. His sensitivity to actors and to the rhythms of the city have made him “America’s longest-lived descendant of the 1950s Neorealist tradition and its urgent commitment to ethical responsibility.”

Lumet began as an off-Broadway director, then became a highly efficient TV director. His first movie was typical of his best work: a well-acted, tightly written, deeply considered “problem picture,” 12 Angry Men (1957). Since then, Lumet has divided his energies among other idealistic problem pictures along with literate adaptations of plays and novels, big stylish pictures, and New York-based black comedies. As a result of directing 12 Angry Men, he is also responsible for leading the first wave of directors who made a successful transition from TV to movies. For being one of the most reliable and dependable directors of the last half-century, in 2005 he received an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement for his “brilliant services to screenwriters, performers, and the art of the motion picture.”—Wikipedia

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