Night Falls on Manhattan (1996)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writers (WGA):

Robert Daley (novel)
Sidney Lumet (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 May 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

In a city of nine million people is there room for one honest man?

Plot:

A newly elected District attorney finds himself in the middle of a police corruption investigation that may involve his father and his partner.

Plot Keywords:

Attorney | District Attorney | Corruption | Justice | Lawyer

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Andy Garcia	...	Sean Casey
Ian Holm	...	Liam Casey
James Gandolfini	...	Joey Allegretto
Lena Olin	...	Peggy Lindstrom
Shiek Mahmud-Bey	...	Jordan Washington
Colm Feore	...	Elihu Harrison
Ron Leibman	...	Morgenstern
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Sam Vigoda
Dominic Chianese	...	Judge Impelliteri
Paul Guilfoyle	...	McGovern
Bonnie Rose	...	Instructor
Norman Matlock	...	Detective
Sidney Armus	...	Judge
James Murtaugh	...	Man in Asylum (as Jim Murtaugh)
Melba Martinez	...	Legal Aid Attorney

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

114 min | USA:118 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Marietta, Georgia, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

There is a version of the film which features a more upbeat ending which was only shown to preview audiences. Director Sidney Lumet decided to end the film with a more downbeat ending.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005) (TV)

It's not

"Night Falls on Manhattan" (meaningless title:**1/2 out of ****). A politically ambitious chief district attorney (Ron Leibman) assigns an upcoming young assistant D.A. (Andy Garcia) the task of prosecuting. Things proceed so smoothly in the first hour for our young hero that you just know that embarrassing revelations are going to come crashing down around him in the second hour, which they do.

This is familiar turf for veteran filmaker Sidney Lumet, and he has made a fairly compelling film, despite the miscasting of British Holm and Cuban Garcia as father and son, respectively, although Holm does manage an amazingly authentic Queens accent. Leibman overacts outrageously as the head D.A.; one wonders how anyone as abrasive as he is would be able to get so far!

Some sequences are a little too pat for comfort. Still "Manhattan" makes for engrossing if predictable drama, exploring once again the extent to which the cumbersome wheels of justice have to be manipulated. Richard Dreyfuss is pretty good in a surprisingly small role as the drug dealers's Dershowitz-like defense attorney, who turns out to be more willing to bend the rules than you would expect, considering his primary motive for taking the case.