Find Me Guilty (2006)

Director: Sidney Lumet

Starring: Jerry Grayson, Richard DeDomenico, Frank Pietrangolare, Alex Rocco, Vin Diesel

Rating: R (Restricted)

Years ago, after watching the painfully bad trip that was The Knockaround Guys, Jason and I shook our heads sadly. Earlier, we'd put our metaphorical money on the chome-domed, gravelly-voiced Vin Diesel as the next breakout movie guy. He'd never be Robert Redford, but he had more snap, more zing than the cardboard-thin Action Hero actors who inhabited his genre at the time. He had the chops to play an actual dramatic role or two.

We started speculating. He'd need to crank out a few more action flicks to stay in the spotlight -- Pitch Black and Riddick were winners. But he'd need to branch off into something light, a comedy where his action-hero vibe was played for laughs, before transitioning to a straight comedy or two, then trying his chops at pure drama. Clearly, The Knockaround Guys was a blown opportunity that set The Plan back. But soon, The Pacifier hit theaters and the theory Jason and I had kicked around started looking almost plausable.

Having watched Find Me Guilty, I'm more convinced as ever that we were right about Vin's master plan. It's snappy and farsical, but there's real emotional drama to the character he plays in this story by the directory of Twelve Angry Men. Based on the actual Longest Jury Trial in American History, the film has Vin playing a mid-level mob guy in the trial that almost brought down New Jersey's biggest crime families. Twenty defendents, dozens of charges, and this guy -- with a sixth grade education -- decided he'd act as his own lawyer rather than turn state's witness. Chaos ensues, horses are frightened, prosecutors fume, etc etc.

It's a weird sort of movie, all the moreso because it's based on real events. Unlike, say, My Cousin Vinnie, there's the uncomfortable knowledge that these guys really, y'know, were mobsters who did all kinds of nasty stuff. But Diesel does a good job, playing a flawed wise guy who can't believe what's going on and can't help performing a little for everyone. Even a jury.

What's next? An indie film or two, maybe? Something quirky and dramatic, definitely not science fiction. Just remember -- once, Clint Eastwood was just a guy from some westerns.