Beautiful, moving film.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Courtroom dramas outside of murder mysteries are a mixed bag, and some are incredibly boring. That is far from the case in this case, a medical malpractice suit where a woman goes into the hospital to have a baby and ends up in a lingering coma. Ambulance chaser attorney Paul Newman is on the verge of an alcoholic breakdown and is haunting funerals hoping to get a client. His actions are a disgrace, an embarrassment to watch, and when he takes on the case of the comatose woman from her sister, he seems to have crossed the line into callous immorality. But a sudden visit to the hospital opens his eyes, and after visiting the local cardinal whose diocese runs the hospital, he becomes determined to take the case to court rather than just accept a pricey settlement.After his showy performance in "Absence of Malice", Newman tops it, playing a greatly flawed man whose ethics have unexpectedly disappeared. But there's more to him than meets the bar exam and the bar tabs, and it comes down to a beautiful stranger (Charlotte Rampling) he meets to bring out those vulnerabilities that he's kept hidden. Jack Warden as Newman's veteran attorney mentor, James Mason as the head of the defense team and Milo O'Shea as the tough talking judge round out the cast of famous names, with Wesley Addy as a specialist on the case and Joe Seneca as an important witness give powerful performances as well. Seneca, known to"Golden Girls" as the man suffering from Alzheimer's whom Estelle Getty's character briefly befriended, is particularly memorable in his gentle characterization.Now a 35 year old modern classic, this is still timely because of legal ethics, medical malpractice issues still prevalent today, and is the type of film that really makes you think. I think had it not been for "Ghandi" the year that this came out, this may have been a front runner for Newman to win his first Oscar. I only find some of the Charlotte Rampling scenes to be out of place, even with the twist I saw coming long before it did. It's both a reunion for Warden and director Sidney Lumet from 1957's "Twelve Angry Men" and for Warden and Mason from "Heaven Can Wait". You'd have to be a pretty savvy New Yorker to recognize some of the locations for this Boston set film, but like the Charlotte Rampling issues, those factors are minor.

"The Verdict" has to be called one of the finest courtroom-law dramas of all time, certainly a movie which deserves more recognition than it actually received over the course of the years since its publication. While the plot itself remains rather grounded and straight-forward without any particularly groundbreaking elements, Paul Newman's masterful performance as well as the great supporting actors and actresses are what helps this drama in succeeding at depicting what it aims to depict.Newman plays an attorney who needs to pull himself together from his drinking problem in order to win a lawsuit surrounding the case of a woman suffering severe brain damage at a hospital. It should come as no surprise that Newman completely immerses himself in the role in a way only Paul Newman can be expected to. The dialogues are another main part of the movie's most intriguing aspects, flowing so well together that it's almost impossible to lose attention of what's happening. At its heart, the movie is not just a courtroom drama, it's about humans dealing with their personal conditions and problems, and it's a movie which knows how to form a bond with viewers and keep them connected to the characters.Sadly, the movie has not reached a status as a classic of the 1980's. Perhaps it simply was not memorable enough to most viewers, or perhaps it is too fine a movie in a decade remembered mostly for action movies, horror flicks or comedies. However, if you love watching a great performance in a great movie, then "The Verdict" cannot be recommended highly enough.

The Verdict is what The Color of Money should have been. In The Color of Money, Paul Newman plays an old hustler who used to be young and famous. He trains and teaches a young upstart, but it was hardly an interesting storyline. Wouldn't it have been a more captivating plot if he used to be young and famous, and now, he's washed up, playing the small time again and struggling with an alcohol problem? I think so.In The Verdict, Paul Newman plays a lawyer who once had a future in a prestigious law firm. Now, he's a washed up alcoholic, chasing ambulances for clients. He's given one last chance to bring a big case to court, but can he get and keep his act together and win? With a running time of over two hours, it feels a little slow. But courtroom dramas can be notoriously slow, especially in the 80s, so it's not the end of the world. It's also a little predictable, but if you like Paul Newman or stories about underdogs, definitely give it a chance.

I must say that "The Verdict" is a wonderful film an excellent courtroom drama a case that is a challenge, but settles in the end with courage and determination. And the performance from Paul Newman is top notch maybe one of his best. All legal dramas are always interesting with the usual twist and turns of a case and the drama on the courtroom witness stand is always revealing and compelling and this 1982 film has all of those moments to occur.Set in Boston Paul Newman is Frankie Galvin an ambulance chasing lawyer who's on the downside of his work and his life. Frankie has lost three or four cases in a row, and he's divorced and he's became an alcoholic as his battle with the bottle is now a daily obsession in the form of many shots and glasses of whiskey. And much of Frankie's time in the free is conducted with him playing pinball at the local bar. Really a sad life for a lawyer it's like a midlife crisis. Only all of a sudden dumped in Frankie's lap is a dream case a medical malpractice case that seems impossible to win, yet Frankie is determined to fight the hospital and doctor's who negligence put a young woman in a coma for the rest of her life. As Frankie owes answers and money and justice to the family of this young lady. And you guessed it the determined Frankie wants to get his game back as he refuses settlement and instead takes the case to court.And in somewhat of a subplot Frankie has a fling somewhat of a one night stand with a divorced lady(played clever and elegantly by Charlotte Rampling)as with life the case has ups and downs still the film becomes a powerful drama as the entire legal system seems like it's put on trial in the courtroom. "The Verdict" is a film that searches for answers and it finds the truth leading to justice and most of all it's a moral and life and job awakening of a man named Frankie Galvin.