We get into the Vin Diesel with hair flick, Find Me Guilty which is about the longest criminal trial in American history where one gang was being prosecuted by an even bigger gang. There are a lot of fun themes in this one worthy of discussion despite the poor box office numbers for this film.
When police arrest twenty members of the Lucchese crime family, the authorities offer Jackie Dee DiNorscio (Diesel) a bargain: a shortened prison term if he’ll testify against his own. But the wisecracking DiNorscio has other ideas. Refusing to cooperate, he decides to defend himself at his own trial… and proceeds to turn the courtroom upside-down in a hilarious fight that culminates in one of the most shocking verdicts in judicial history!
Sidney Lumet’s gripping courtroom drama resurrects a notorious 1987-88 court case in which 20 men said to be members of the New Jersey-based Lucchese crime family were prosecuted by the federal government on more than 75 criminal counts involving the usual assortment of mob activities.
After dragging on for nearly two years, the trial ended with a shocking outcome. Giacomo (Jackie Dee) DiNorscio (Vin Diesel), the goombah antihero of “Find Me Guilty,” alone insisted on representing himself. While driving both the judge (Ron Silver) and the mob kingpin Nick Calabrese (Alex Rocco) into paroxysms of rage and anxiety, Jackie, whose real-life nickname was Fat Jack, clowned and charmed his way into the hearts of the jury like an uncensored late-night talk show host in a bid to win their freedom despite his continued incarceration no matter the outcome.
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