when Police Arrest Twenty Members Of The Lucchese Crime Family, The Authorities Offer Jackie Dee Dinorscio (diesel) A Bargain: A Shortened Prison Term If He'll Testify Against His Own. But The Wisecracking Dinorscio Has Other Ideas. Refusing To Cooperate, He Decides To Defend Himself At His Own Trial... And Proceeds To Turn The Courtroom Upside-down In A Hilarious Fight That Culminates In One Of The Most Shocking Verdicts In Judicial History!

Vin Diesel gives his best performance to date in Sidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty, a courtroom comedy-drama (based on the true story of Mafia soldier "Fat Jack" DiNorscio) about the longest criminal trial in U.S. history. Diesel plays Giacomo "Jackie Dee" DiNorscio, a loyal member of New Jersey's notorious Lucchese crime family, who's already serving a 30-year jail term when he's offered an opportunity to shorten his sentence if he agrees to testify against many of his closest friends. He refuses, choosing instead to defend himself in a 21-month courtroom trial that involves 20 other Mafia members, each with their own defense attorney, all brought to trial on 76 charges ranging from criminal conspiracy to narcotics trafficking. As the lead defense attorney (Peter Dinklage) and prosecutor (Linus Roache) guide the trial through a maze of legal triumphs and setbacks, Lumet (still going strong at age 81) turns this goombah gab-fest into the kind of edgy New York comedy that only he could direct, drawing heavily on his experience with such courtroom classics as The Verdict and 12 Angry Men. And while he's filled the screen with a marvelous supporting cast including Alex Rocco, Ron Silver (as the no-nonsense judge) and Annabella Sciorra, Lumet can't quite overcome the confined, theatrical nature of the material, much of it drawn directly from actual courtroom transcripts. Find Me Guilty lacks the dramatic impact of The Verdict, favoring instead the rich absurdity of the DiNorscio case and its equally outrageous outcome after the jury's surprisingly brief deliberation. This is comfortable territory for Lumet, and he brings out the best in his extensive cast – especially Diesel, who walks a fine line between courtroom shenanigans and fierce loyalty to his criminal clan.--Jeff Shannon