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# ‘Guilty’is a pleasure, despite its girth
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/guiltyis-a-pleasure-despite-its-girth/
- Published: 2006-03-17T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:22:10.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

Historically, audiences have embraced films that lionize mobsters while muting the unpleasant realities of the violent and corrupt lives they lead. This curious thug-simpatico is not lost on 81-year-old director Sidney Lumet (“Network,” “12 Angry Men”), who, in his latest courtroom drama “Find Me Guilty,” blithely presents real-life Jersey Mafioso and career convict Giacomo “Jackie Dee” DiNorscio (Vin Diesel) as nothing more than a cuddly crack-up who suffered not for his own misdeeds, but simply because he never got a fair shake from The Man. Never mind that Jackie was a convicted coke dealer, avowed user, and card-carrying member of the murderous Lucchese crime family — the guy was cute and playful and impossibly loyal … like an overgrown misogynistic, underhanded puppy. Not surprisingly, it works.

Set mostly in a courtroom in late 1980’s New York, “Find Me Guilty” is based on the true story of how Jackie DiNorscio — in the midst of serving a 30-year sentence for drug trafficking — spurned an offer from federal prosecutors for reduced prison time in exchange for testimony against the Luccheses, then did the unthinkable by acting as his own counsel in what became the longest criminal trial in U.S. history.

In style and pitch, this film shares a kinship with Lumet’s 1970s hits “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Serpico,” though “Guilty” is conspicuously absent the complexity and suspense that made those movies so compelling. Lumet’s sunny depiction of the proceedings would have benefited greatly from a few clouds, and the film could have done without much of the fat in its bloated mid-section, which finds a prosthetic-wearing Diesel channeling Shecky Green. Over the top, sure, but it’s a likable performance nonetheless, one in which Diesel hearkens back to his pre-action-hero days (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Boiler Room”), when he was being hailed as one of the most promising actors of his generation. Lumet, known as the consummate actor’s director, gets strong supporting turns from Ron Silver (the judge), Peter Dinklage (a savvy mob lawyer) and, especially, Annabella Sciorra as Jackie’s sour ex-wife. (Rated R. Running time: 124 minutes)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 17, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031706.pdf?ref=smdp.com)