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20 reviews in total

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9 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Sydney Lumet looks into honesty and corruption again., 14 May 2005

Author: mnfried from Rochester, New York

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The theme of corruption is examined in almost every Sydney Lumet film. He is fascinated by power and the use and misuse of it. The cast of this character-driven film is played to perfection by Andy Garcia, James Gandolfini, Lena Olin, Shiek Mahmud-Bey, Ian Holm, Ron Leibman, Richard Dreyfuss, Sam Vigoda and Paul Guilfoyle. They are all in the same gut-wrenching movie about the prosecutors who do not operate in a black-and-white world, rather in one of shades of gray. There are two especially touching relationships. One is between a father and son, the other is the love story between Andy Garcia and Lena Olin that survives this very tense and complex situation in a film about an important subject. I recommend it.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
At what price justice?, 25 March 2003

Author: George Parker from Orange County, CA USA

In "Night Falls on Manhattan", Garcia plays a rookie NYC District Attorney who finds himself struggling to cope with moral dilemmas and compromised principles in the "real world" of lawyering. Offering a solid cast with good performances, this Hollywood tinged film builds quickly and maintains momentum while digging into fundamental issues which bedevil characters from cops to judges in their personal and professional lives. Worth a look for anyone into dramas, especially those dealing with questions of ethics. (B)

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7 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Must see for any law student:, 12 November 2006

Author: maureenwheat from United States

The plot was predictable; what was VERY good is the realistic sour compromises that atty's make. that alone warrants this movie as MUST SEE for students. I went to St.Johns University (undergraduate legal education), as did Sean Casey (AndyGarcia) No punches were pulled there, and that was reflected in the protagonist effort to make ethical decisions. There was one line that summarizes so much: "...if you want clean hands, become a priest. The degree to which police, criminal attys, DA's and all parties with knowledge about a criminal action get ugly is very true. This hopefully will take the hot air out of many law students, puffed up with him or herself. Well done and accurate, even if predictable. The DEVIL is in the movie detail.

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7 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Lumet redux- Municipal corruption aplenty, 11 April 2003
Author: george.schmidt (GSchmidt0609@aol.com) from fairview, nj

NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN (1997) *** Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss, Ian Holm, Lena Olin, James Gandolfini, Ron Leibman, Shiek Mahmud-Bey. Excellent, gritty and absorbing crime drama dealing with Garcia as an assistant DA who becomes an overnight sensation after tackling a disturbing case of a drug dealer killing three cops on a raid gone awry that leads to a sticky web of corruption, lies, deceit and ultimately personal integrity. Garcia and Holm as his cop father, give superb performances as does Leibman as his teeth gnashing mentor (a delightful to watch turn) and Gandolfini as Holm's partner with some skeletons in his closet. Based on Robert Daley's book `Tainted Evidence' and adapted by the film's director Sidney Lumet with colorful panache of a true helmsman. – Letterman stooge Leonard Tepper is an extra in the jury (!)

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5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
If you want clean hands, become a priest, 14 April 2008

Author: lastliberal from United States

Fascinating story of politics and justice in New York, or anywhere else for that matter. Most don't realize that on 3% of murder cases ever see a jury; most are plea bargained. But, there are those, like the one depicted here, that are essential, not for justice, but for the political ambitions of the DA and Mayor.

Sidney Lumet (Find Me Guilty, Dog Day Afternoon) likes working with ethical questions, and he did a good job here in presenting a world that is not black and white, but gray.

I generally do not like Andy Garcia (Ocean's Eleven, The Godfather Part III) or Ron Leibman (Zorro, the Gay Blade), but that may be because of their politics off the screen. It affects my judgment. I have to say that they both gave interesting performances that made this film worth watch. But, there were a lot of good stars in this film: Sir Ian Holm (Chariots of First) as Garcia's father, James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) as a corrupt cop and Holm's partner, Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus, The Goodbye Girl, Jaws) as a liberal lawyer, Colm Feore (Bon Cop, Bad Cop, The Red Violin, Chicago) as an ADA that wants the top job, and Lena Olin (Enemies: A Love Story, Chocolat, "Alias") as the love interest.

Very good acting throughout and a compelling story.

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6 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Good movie that was based on The Larry Davis Story, 1 November 2004
Author: glory2godpd from NYC, USA

This film is definitely based on the Larry Davis incident that took place in the late 80's where corrupt cops tried to shake down a drug dealer who wanted out of their "system"(dealers who payed off cops to rob other dealers). When he got out due to the death of his infant daughter, they invaded his home, he fought back by killing and wounding some officers and escaped leading to a dangerous manhunt in NYC. When they finally caught him (an old family relative snicthced on him), false accusations were brought up by the police and the media to portray him as a ruthless thug who ran away after killing the cops when all he wanted to do was leave the organization involving crooked cops and drug dealers. He is still serving time in Rikers Island fighting for a new trial.

Check out the documentary called THE LARRY DAVIS STORY which won an award for Best Documentary in the Urbanworld Film Festival in 2003.

However, it serves well on film and Sidney Lumet is great act capturing the look and feel of NYC in the early 90's. It has a "Prince of the City" feel to it.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Interesting movie, 19 December 2008

Author: (butchfilms@hotmail.com) from Peru

I liked this film, this is not a great movie but it's a good one, and the most important thing was that it didn't bore me for a moment.

The performances are good, the plot is interesting and clever. What I didn't like about it was that the shots of the film looked like a movie made for TV.

The plot is about how Sean Casey ,an assistant district attorney working for just six months, improves very fast in his way up at his job but he is going to discover many dirty things about policemen and politics and is at this point where he will have to make difficult decisions that will put in text his principles.

If you like intelligent police or court movies, this one is for you.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Intelligent and well acted ........., 22 March 2010

Author: merklekranz from United States

"Night Falls on Manhattan" seems like a rather generic title for a film that explores the gray area of political and law enforcement corruption. The acting is good, with special mention going to Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss, and Ron Leibman. As for Lena Olin, her character is so unimportant to the overall storyline, that it probably could have been eliminated entirely. After a bang bang beginning, the rest of the movie quietly explores who's on the take, and the back room deals necessary to bring corrupt cops to justice. This process is a real eye opener for Andy Garcia, who plays an idealistic district attorney. - MERK

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Andy Garcia miscast, 30 November 2010

Author: wfrost from United States

Andy Garcia is a great actor, but casting a Cuban American as an Irish American (Sean Casey), is too much of a stretch. Ian Holm, a Brit, plays his father (Liam Casey), and no one would visualize the two as father and son. It is no coincidence that he was cast previously as a person of Mediterranean or Latin American heritage. Otherwise a fine film about New York police, divided loyalties, the illegal drug business, the corruption drug money makes possible, and the ethical consequences that involve everyone knowing of the crimes committed. "Night Falls on Manhattan" contains a good plot from the novel by Robert Daley and has a strong supporting cast with James Gandolfini, Richard Dreyfuss, Lena Olin, Dominic Chianese, Shiek Mahmud-Bey, and Paul Guilfoyle.

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"Nobody's Perfect.", 10 July 2011

Author: Robert J. Maxwell (rmax304823@yahoo.com) from Deming, New Mexico, USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I, who know nothing, am sitting there watching these events unfold after having missed the first couple of minutes, including the credits. It begins with a horrific shoot out involving a black drug dealer and an absolute horde of confused NYPD cops milling around and shouting at each other. A couple of cops are dead, another wounded. The drug dealer disguises himself as a cop, coolly enters one of the squad cars and drives away.

Later he surrenders himself under the legal guidance of Richard Dreyfuss. As soon as Dreyfuss and the black dealer show up, the cops go ape, bust the windows of the car, and beat the crap out of the dealer as they drag him away like a lynch mob gone wild.

Newbie District Attorney, Andy Garcia, wins the case against the dealer, who is sentenced to life without parole. Garcia's father was the old cop wounded in the shoot out, and it's partly because of Garcia's status as victim that he wins the case and the office.

He's an idealist, always a bad sign. And when he begins to look into the context in which the shoot out occurred -- the dealer trying to save himself from crooked cops out to kill him -- the trail is long and winding and eventually the cool arms of the law begin to enfold his own father.

By this time, I'm thinking, "By Gad, this is Sidney Lumet territory!" Not just because of the subject -- police corruption and torn allegiances on the streets of New York -- but because of the detached style in which this dramatic material is handled.

It was, of course, directed by Sidney Lumet, who has an indisputable feel for this sort of stuff. (Makes one wonder about his childhood.) I think, at times, he let's Garcia's quest for perfection get a little out of hand though. Garcia is best at projecting stifled intensity, what with his fevered eyes and unblinking stare, but Lumet may have him shouting when he should be glaring. But that doesn't happen often. Garcia is a likable and thoroughly competent actor and the role suits him. Well, as long as I'm carping, let me add that the name of Garcia's cop shouldn't have been Sean Casey. It should have been Juan Cansino. And men don't embrace or kiss cheeks in Irish families either.

Both Ian Holm and James Gandolfini do quite well in their roles. The latter is an affable cop who cheerfully admits to perjury but, when faced with serious charges, blows himself away after sensibly getting skunked. Ian Holm is really surprising in his range. I mean, the guy is a Limey and still entirely believable as an aging New York cop. Some of the touches he brings to the role are so subtle as to go almost unnoticed. (Eg., when he learns by phone of the suicide of Gandolfini, who was his partner, his elbow slips off his knee an inch or so.) He was even convincing as a treacherous robot in "Alien." I don't know if this production is up there with "Serpico", "Prince of the City", or "Q & A". The script for that last flick is probably the weakest. But, in any case, trying to rank order movies is a hopeless task, each film being made up of its own unique dimensions -- casting, photography, score, performances, locations, and so forth.

Still, Lumet's series on cops in New York is so much better than the typical kind of Manichean garbage on today's screens -- one impeccable hero against an army of venomous villains, not one of whom even has a stamp collection, just money, power, broads, and evil intent. In Lumet's work, the protagonist finds himself in all kinds of unanticipated morally gray areas. It challenges you. It asks, "What would YOU do under these circumstances?" I can understand why it might generate unease in some viewers.

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