Sidney Lumet

Sidney Lumet, 86, the Philadelphia-born filmmaker and maker of vigorous urban dramas such as 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon, Network , and The Verdict , died of lymphoma Saturday at his home in Manhattan. A diminutive figure who resembled a lively owl, Mr. Lumet was a most prolific film artist. Over his 50 years as a feature filmmaker, he directed 43 features, from 12 Angry Men (1957), his tense jury-room standoff, to Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

Following on the heels of the laughably awful Guilty as Sin and A Stranger Among Us (the former with Don Johnson, the latter starring the ex-Mrs. Johnson, Melanie Griffith), filmmaker Sidney Lumet is back in fine form with Night Falls on Manhattan, a rich, complex case study of crime, corruption and politics in the big city. Like a patrolman who walks the same beat day after day, Lumet has traveled this turf before: Serpico, Q & A, Prince of the City and, way back, The Offence.

No director has probed the subject of urban cops and corruption more skillfully than Sidney Lumet, whose "Serpico" and "Prince of the City" are classic examples of the form. They represent Lumet at his peak, in the 1970s and early '80s - part of the reason why, when we think of great crooked cop movies, we picture long-haired men in bell bottoms and mod leather jackets, driving Kojak cars. Certainly these movies seem to belong to the past. A glance at the roster of contemporary pictures suggests that Hollywood just doesn't make 'em like that anymore, or that it doesn't even try. The truth is, the genre that Lumet perfected still thrives.

The name is Connery. Sean Connery. For many, Connery is clearly the once and forever Bond, however admirable his sucessors and however assiduously they may have been promoted by their publicity machines. But last night, of course, Connery was much more than that. As this year's winner of the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as a cop in "The Untouchables," he is no longer The Man Who Used to Play James Bond. "I first appeared here 30 years ago," Connery said in accepting his award.

There is an old Mexican curse that wishes a truly terrible fate on the offending party: "May your life be filled with lawyers. " But, as Sidney Lumet's powerful and chilling Critical Care argues, there is an even worse fate to be considered. What if your death - or, more precisely, your right to die in some measure of peace - were filled with lawyers? Lumet drives the point home with a particularly telling image in his uneven but always compelling film: An array of attorneys sits around a long conference table that is shaped like a coffin.

"The Morning After," a drama starring Jane Fonda, Jeff Bridges and Raul Julia. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by James Hicks. Running time: 103 minutes. A Twentieth Century Fox release. At area theaters. It took me an hour and 19 minutes to realize who done it in "The Morning After. " Of course, I've always been a little slow - I still haven't figured out who the culprit was in "The Big Sleep. " People who are good at this kind of thing should have the murderer pegged within half an hour.

"Power. " A drama starring Richard Gere, Julie Christie and Gene Hackman. Directed by Sidney Lumet from a screenplay by David Himmelstein. Photographed by Andrzej Bartokowiak. Edited by Andrew Mondshein. Music by Cy Coleman. Running time: 111 minutes. A 20th Century-Fox/Lorimar release. In area theaters. Sidney Lumet's latest film, "Power," has many things going for it and just as many things working against it. On the plus side, there's its theme - a close-up look at the ruthless and influential media consultants who groom candidates for political stardom and thereby dictate exactly for whom we vote.

Ten years ago, Sidney Lumet combined with Peter Finch and Paddy Chayefsky to make Network, a scathing satire that left the television industry in smouldering ruins. In Power, he resumes his interest in the manipulation of the media, but he has chosen the wrong messenger in Richard Gere. Lumet's theme is the undermining of our system by cynical media consultants, but Power turns out to be a victim of sabotage of its own making. Very few American directors can match the distinction, consistency and substance of Lumet's career.

Everyone has had days when it didn't pay to get out of bed in the morning. The Morning After hinges on the dire consequences of getting into the wrong bed the night before. The tone of Sidney Lumet's witty and macabre thriller is set the moment Alex Sternbergen opens her eyes and gropes with the dimensions of her mistake. Accustomed - or, as Jane Fonda implies, hardened - to one-night stands, Alex looks blankly at the unfamiliar face of the man beside her. She can't put a name to the face, but that's nothing new. She also can't help but notice the knife sticking out of his chest.

Sidney Lumet, 86, the Philadelphia-born filmmaker and maker of vigorous urban dramas such as 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon, Network , and The Verdict , died of lymphoma Saturday at his home in Manhattan. A diminutive figure who resembled a lively owl, Mr. Lumet was a most prolific film artist. Over his 50 years as a feature filmmaker, he directed 43 features, from 12 Angry Men (1957), his tense jury-room standoff, to Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

According to the rules, tragedy ends in death and comedy in marriage. Yet while Rachel Getting Married - Jonathan Demme's superb rule-bending, heartrending and family-mending drama - ends with a wedding, it resists conventions as brazenly as does the bride's sister. Rachel (the astonishing Rosemarie DeWitt of Mad Men ) is the one getting hitched over a Connecticut weekend. Kym, her self-absorbed and self-loathing sibling (comparably astonishing Anne Hathaway), on weekend furlough from drug rehab, is the one elbowing her way into the spotlight.

A brazen tale of greed, lies, infidelity and murder, Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead also offers a wicked deconstruction of a dysfunctional clan: brothers at each other's throats; a father whose legacy is anger and betrayal; an unfaithful wife; a history of deceit. It's a horror show of hatred and festering psychic wounds. So why is this movie so much fun? Shot on the same New York City streets that provided the gritty backdrop for many of the 83-year-old director's best films ( Prince of the City, Serpico, Q & A)

Taking its title from the '80s-era slogan of the New York Police Department's street crimes unit, We Own the Night stars Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg as brothers on opposite sides of the law. Joe Grusinsky (Wahlberg) is a dedicated, decorated second-generation cop. Bobby (Phoenix) is the proverbial black sheep, a coke-snorting disco-club manager with a different last name - Green - a party-girl girlfriend (Eva Mendes), and business associates who may or may not be tied to the Russian mob. One thing the brothers do share: a hero father, Burt Grusinsky, a deputy police chief played exactly how you figure he'd be played if he were being played by Robert Duvall - which he is. At times solid and suspenseful, at times dopily implausible and woefully familiar, We Own the Night owes a bunch to the bare-knuckled New York crime dramas of Sidney Lumet - though it doesn't come close to Lumet's latest, opening next month (and also about two brothers and a father)

Taking its title from the '80s-era slogan of the New York Police Department's street crimes unit, We Own the Night stars Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg as brothers on opposite sides of the law. Joe Grusinsky (Wahlberg) is a dedicated, decorated second-generation cop. Bobby (Phoenix) is the proverbial black sheep, a coke-snorting disco-club manager with a different last name - Green - a party-girl girlfriend (Eva Mendes), and business associates who may or may not be tied to the Russian mob. One thing the brothers do share: a hero father, Burt Grusinsky, a deputy police chief played exactly how you figure he'd be played if he were being played by Robert Duvall - which he is. At times solid and suspenseful, at times dopily implausible and woefully familiar, We Own the Night owes a bunch to the bare-knuckled New York crime dramas of Sidney Lumet - though it doesn't come close to Lumet's latest, opening next month (and also about two brothers and a father)

There is an old Mexican curse that wishes a truly terrible fate on the offending party: "May your life be filled with lawyers. " But, as Sidney Lumet's powerful and chilling Critical Care argues, there is an even worse fate to be considered. What if your death - or, more precisely, your right to die in some measure of peace - were filled with lawyers? Lumet drives the point home with a particularly telling image in his uneven but always compelling film: An array of attorneys sits around a long conference table that is shaped like a coffin.

No director has probed the subject of urban cops and corruption more skillfully than Sidney Lumet, whose "Serpico" and "Prince of the City" are classic examples of the form. They represent Lumet at his peak, in the 1970s and early '80s - part of the reason why, when we think of great crooked cop movies, we picture long-haired men in bell bottoms and mod leather jackets, driving Kojak cars. Certainly these movies seem to belong to the past. A glance at the roster of contemporary pictures suggests that Hollywood just doesn't make 'em like that anymore, or that it doesn't even try. The truth is, the genre that Lumet perfected still thrives.

Following on the heels of the laughably awful Guilty as Sin and A Stranger Among Us (the former with Don Johnson, the latter starring the ex-Mrs. Johnson, Melanie Griffith), filmmaker Sidney Lumet is back in fine form with Night Falls on Manhattan, a rich, complex case study of crime, corruption and politics in the big city. Like a patrolman who walks the same beat day after day, Lumet has traveled this turf before: Serpico, Q & A, Prince of the City and, way back, The Offence.

The news from Cannes wasn't good. Sidney Lumet's new policier, a distaff, Hasidic version of Witness starring Melanie Griffith as a tough, seen-it-all New York detective, was greeted with boos and laughter when it was screened at the prestigious festival in May. At least, that's what U.S. critics reported, after attending a morning showing of A Stranger Among Us. But veteran director Lumet says that's only half the story. "At the critics' screening it got some boos," he concedes.