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Episode 281: THE VERDICT (1982)
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Frank Galvin will try the case — against the medical professionals whose negligence left a woman a vegetable, against the church that funds it, against the wishes of the victim’s family, and against just about everybody else.
THE VERDICT, Sidney Lumet’s OTHER courtroom drama has a bit of a ‘70s vibe to it, despite releasing in 1982. Maybe it’s because of its miserable hero, an alcoholic lawyer portrayed masterfully by the perpetually handsome Paul Newman; maybe it’s because the whole desperate affair feels less like an underdog success story and more like a hard-won battle with the self; maybe it’s in the misogynist implications of David Mamet’s script (particularly with regard to Charlotte Rampling as Laura).
On this episode, we look at THE VERDICT as a product of its time AND with the benefit of hindsight and come to different conclusions about its makers’ intentions, the means by which they get there, and what the film has to show for its effort after the gavel falls.
References:
- Watch THE VERDICT on the Internet Archive
- “A Phenomenology of the East Coast: Sidney Lumet’s The Verdict” by MH Rowe for Perisphere, the Trylon blog
- Review: The Verdict by Roger Ebert
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/
#CharlotteRamplingsIllusionsOfInvulnerability #DCP
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org.
Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: “The Bottom” by Johnny Mandel from the THE VERDICT soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 281: THE VERDICT (1982)
6:01 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
8:05 - Not the feel-good underdog story the marketing might lead you to believe
21:02 - What a messy version of justice this is
30:27 - Charlotte Rampling as Laura and where we end up in the finale
47:04 - The Junk Drawer
51:07 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1982
52:00 - Cody’s Noteys: The Verdictionary (definitions applied to cast names)
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