Night Falls on Manhattan

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Night Falls on Manhattan ★★★ 1996 (R)

One man's search for truth runs into serious problems in this adaptation of “Tainted Evidence” by Robert Daley. Former cop turned junior DA, Sean Casey (Garcia), is chosen to lead the prosecution in a sensational NY trial involving a drug dealer/cop killer, who also seriously wounded Sean's long-time cop father, Liam (Holm). He wins but allegations of police corruption dog the trial, thanks to liberal defense lawyer Vigoda (Dreyfuss), and when Sean rather unexpectedly becomes the new district attorney, the issue becomes a full-blown scandal, leading the naive Sean very close to home. Veteran director Lumet knows this scandal-ridden territory very well and is aided by fine performances from his leads. 114m/C VHS, DVD . Dominic Chianese, Andy Garcia, Ian Holm, Richard Dreyfuss, Lena Olin, James Gandolfini, Ron Leibman, Colm Feore, Shiek Mahmud-Bey, Paul Guilfoyle; D: Sidney Lumet; W: Sidney Lumet; C: David Watkin; M: Mark Isham.

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