Rewind, Review, and Re-Rate: ‘The Verdict,’ About a Down-and-Out Lawyer Fighting for Justice
R | 2h 9min | Drama | 17 December 1982 (USA)
When a director slows the action down and focuses on the actor, we see a nervous twitch here, a tremble of the chin there—a multitude of subtle cues that give insights into a character’s emotional state. If done right, these long, unbroken shots can help viewers immerse themselves in the world that the filmmaker is trying to bring to life. This technique is used to near-perfection in the 1982 legal drama “The Verdict,” starring Paul Newman in perhaps his finest performance.