Product Details

• Actors: Vin Diesel
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001L6EAJY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #238,774 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

dvd- mafia court comedy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Funny Side of the Longest Mafia Trial in History., July 5, 2006

By 

mirasreviews (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Find Me Guilty (DVD)

"Find Me Guilty" is a comedic take on what was at the time the longest criminal trial in American history, the 1987-1988 trial of 20 members of the New Jersey Lucchese crime family on 76 charges under the RICO Act. Most of the courtroom testimony is taken from the real trial transcripts. The film focuses on Giacomo "Jackie" DiNorscio (Vin Diesel), called "Fat Jack" in real life, who, frustrated with his lawyer, insists on representing himself. Jackie is already serving a 30-year prison sentence for narcotics distribution, so the outcome of this trial is somewhat academic to him. Prosecutor Sean Kierney (Linus Roache) offers him a reduction in his current sentence in exchange for testimony at the RICO trial, but Jackie refuses to rat out his friends. Untrained in the law, Jackie's only defense is to make the jury like him more than they like the prosecutors. "A laughing jury is never a hanging jury," says defense attorney Ben Klandis (Peter Dinklage). "I'm not a gangster. I'm a gagster," says Jackie. And he puts on quite a show over the course of the 21-month trial.

"Find Me Guilty" does make light of Jackie's crimes, presenting him as a loyal, affable guy. It could hardly do otherwise, since Jackie made light of them, and he seems to have been a loyal, affable criminal. (Giacomo DiNorscio died while this movie was being filmed.) This obviously isn't a catalog of the Lucchese family's misdeeds. There were some very disreputable people on trial whose victims were not limited to their fellow Mafioso. "Find Me Guilty" is about Jackie's role in this long, remarkable trial. Vin Diesel does the best work of his career thus far. Perhaps due to his laconic, tough-guy image, Diesel can play Jackie's silliness, foolishness, and melodrama without the audience losing sight of his hoodlum toughness. He's a big presence that carries the film through courtroom testimony that might otherwise be tedious. DiNorscio is an interesting character, whose conviction that he must love his mob family, and they must love him, carried him through the trial and many years in prison. "Find Me Guilty"'s comedic approach to courtroom and mafia dramas is new and entertaining.

The DVD (20th Century Fox 2006): "A Conversation with Sidney Lumet" (5 min) is a series of snippets in which director Lumet talks about meeting the real Jackie DiNorscio, Jackie's motives, and authenticity in the film. There is a theatrical trailer (2 ½ min) and 3 television spots for the film (30 sec. each), as well as a trailer for the 1992 movie "My Cousin Vinny" (1 ½ min). Subtitles for the film are available in English and Spanish.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars for this effective Mafia courtroom dramedy, April 23, 2007

By 

Larry VanDeSande - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Find Me Guilty (DVD)

Fans of "The Sopranos", "Goodfellas", Mafia and courtroom flicks will enjoy this fact-based (but probably not completely factual) look at the lengthiest RICO trail in American history starring Vin Diesel and directed by octogenarian Sidney Lumet.

Diesel plays New Jersey mobster Jack DiNorscio defending himself in the longest Mafia trial in U.S. history. Diesel is effective in the role as a disruptive force in judge Ron Silver's court. Alex Rocco, a Mafioso going back to "The Godfather" and through roles he played in TV's "Kojak", is the ring leader in the trial and the main guy the feds are after. Why DiNorscio became the focus of this movie is a question looking for an answer.

In any event, the courtroom "drama" is unlike most of what you see in this kind of movie. Diesel's character is uneducated, has little or no knowledge of courtroom requirements or decorum, and shows these shortcomings regularly through his inappropriate and often unbearable behavior as a litigator.

The other gangsters on trial turn against him after they come to view him as a force out for himself. Prosecutors too see him as a hazard insofar as his comedy act seems to appeal to jurors. True or not, you've probably never seen an attorney ask these kind of questions in court!

Ironically, the film lionizes DiNorscio as a heroic figure that carries out the Mafia credo of not ratting out a brother. Throughout the film he protests his love for his Cosa Nostra brethren, even when they are working against him, and continually states his case against being a rat. This, to me, was the principal theme of the film -- that this lowlife gangster was somehow a hero. The outcome of the movie seems also to support that view.

Several bit players from "The Sopranos", including Junior Soprano's lawyer and one of Tony Soprano's dead love interests, fill out the supporting cast in this New York production. This flick is probably at the level of "The Valachi Papers" but with a far different perspective. It has little of the sizzle of "Goodfellas" but is interesting in its courtroom scenes, where much of the script allegedly mimicked the real trial the went on for more than 500 days.

So fans of gangster and courtroom flicks can cast aside any doubt and go for this movie, which is probably the best characterization Vin Diesel has put on so far. He deservedly wasn't nominated for any awards for this but it shows he can do a bit more than simply play Vin Diesel on screen.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you go in with an open mind, its great entertainment!, April 26, 2006

By 

A. Dupont (ORLANDO, FL) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

I had the pleasure of watching this film on opening weekend in Times Square in NY. I saw the trailers but wasn't really sure what to expect from Vin Diesel in a very different role. I have to say, that after about 10 minutes, I stopped seeing Vin Diesel in make up and totally bought into his portrayal of "Fat Jack" DiNorscio. There was a good bit of crass gangster humor, but I ate it up in the same way you would a naughty secret. Peter Dinklage was wonderful as a lead attorney (and yes, his height was a non-issue, because he is such a strong actor), Ron Silver's strength and sensitivity as the judge was excellent and Linus Roache as the prosecutor was engaging (I didn't know whether to cheer for or against him and he was the "good guy"). I can't even begin to speak of the supporting actors whose mob idiosyncrisies were wonderfully played. I only wish we could have seen more of Annabella Sciorra and Vin Diesel on screen together. They were powerful and had excellent chemistry. I can't wait for the DVD if only to hope there are deleted scenes of these two! Trust me, they'd be worth the price of the DVD alone.