There are some movies that you see all the time on TV, like Heaven Can Wait, for example. There are others that come out in the theaters and then disappear from the collective consciousness. The Verdict falls into this category.

I saw The Verdict when it came out. I was 12 or so. I saw it at the Mann Regent in Westwood, land of movie theaters. Even at that age, I was impressed. Paul Newman should have won the 1982 Academy Award for Best Actor for his tortured performance as Frank Galvin in The Verdict. Instead it went to Henry Fonda for On Golden Pond. When Newman won the award for The Color of Money it widely believed it was a "career award" to make up for that other slights, and well deserved too.

At the insistence of my friend Anita, I finally watched the DVD on Monday. All that I really remembered about the film was this image of Newman in a bar backlit against a pane of windows. The movie didn't disappoint. It's a little dated (can you imagine a lawyer without a cell phone and does anyone remember Eastern airlines?), but on balance it still stands up as one of the classics of legal cinema with weighty performances not only by Newman but also by James Mason and Jack Warden. Paul Newman is such an enormous talent.