Find Me Guilty – Review

A ‘true story’ courtroom drama about the longest mafia prosecution in American history, Find Me Guilty is a fairly strong presentation and effort from Sidney Lumet. Set in the mid-late 1980s, the film presents the story of the jammed-up gangster Jackie DiNorscio (Diesel) who gets busted on all sorts of charges. Not only that, but his druggie also gangster cousin elects to attempt an assassination also, leaving him shot up.

After Jackie’s body heals, he is sentenced for drug charges, on top of a federal racketeering beef he was already on bail for. He is hit with a humdinger of a sentence by the DEA, so Federal prosecutor Sean Kierney (Roache) expects that Jackie will flip on his family for a lesser sentence. He is wrong.

Kierney pushes forward on the federal RICO trial, roping in 20 total gangsters, all into the same trial. This means all defendants also have their own separate legal counsel. That is, other than Jackie DiNorscio. He is relatively over his own lawyer Saul Rizzo (Adler) who was unable to steer him clear of massive time on the drug charge. Jackie decides to represent himself. Away we go.

Find Me Guilty is a mostly fun watch, taken seriously but presented with a fair lens. The movie’s dialogue may seem a bit over the top and crazy, however as the film states at the opening, much of the courtroom verbiage was lifted from courtroom transcriptions. Jackie’s obsession with family and his love of his crew is quite interesting, especially as it drives his motivations and realizations throughout the runtime.

The pace is a tad slow, but for anyone that likes courtroom procedurals, they should have a good time here. While not full of gigantic stars, the cast does quite a serviceable job and has many familiar faces. Vin Diesel was chosen by the real-life Jackie to play him, and he does a great job. He gained weight for the role, and gives it his all.

Most comparisons below are just related due to courtroom or gangster themes, however the vibe of Find Me Guilty is pretty laid back, closer to My Cousin Vinny than most anything else.