The SopranosandThe Godfatherhavemany connections. One of them involves the lead actors. Before he found fame playing Tony Soprano,James Gandolfinistarred alongside Andy Garcia (best known for playing Vincent Mancini in the mafia trilogy’s third installment) inNight Falls in Manhattan. Gandolfini, who had already starred inCrimson TideandTrue Romance, was yet to find his breakout role, whereas Garcia was enjoying Hollywood’s perks. Despite their different circumstances, the two actors were equally outstanding.
Night Falls on Manhattan
Working on the film was an honor for both stars. Not only was it a big-budget Paramount Pictures production, but it was directed by the great Sidney Lumet, known for drawing spirited efforts from his cast. Having worked with the likes of Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Dustin Hoffman, and Anne Bancroft, Lumet knew what was needed to make actors comfortable, and you may feel the satisfaction of the lead actors while watching this particular crime drama.
James Gandolfini and Andy Garcia Are on the “Good” Side of the Law in ‘Night Falls in Manhattan’… Sort Of
InNight Falls in Manhattan,Sidney Lumet, ever concerned with capturing the social milieu of his home city, fashions both a tangy, authentic portrait of departmental corruption and a soaring tale of one prosecutor’s efforts to do his job well.The film opens with a bang.NYPD detectives Liam Casey (Ian Holmes) and Joey Allegretto (James Gandolfini) are seen spying on Jordan Washington (Shiek Mahmud-Bey), a notorious drug dealer.
After receiving a tip from an informant, they head into an apartment block where Washington is presumed to be hiding.A gunfight ensues, resulting in Casey getting seriously wounded. When backup units arrive, Washington kills two police officers and escapes using their squad car.
In the aftermath of the shooting,Casey’s son Sean (Andy Garcia), an ex-cop and newly appointed ADA, is selected to head the prosecution team handling Washington’s case.New York District Attorney Morgenstern (Ron Leibman) makes the appointment to win over the public. But his move stirs a nasty rash of jealousy, mainly because Sean has just passed over the more experienced ADA Elihu Harrison, who intends to challenge him in an upcoming election.
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Washington hires the star attorney Sam Vigoda (Richard Dreyfuss), whose smoldering presence gets everyone nervous.He claims the police had planned to murder Washington, so he was acting in self-defense,adding that most members of the department are dirty, and his client has been bribing them for protection.Vigoda further discloses that the lawmen plotted to murder Washington when he refused to match a cash offer by a rival dealer.
It’s all true, andAllegretto happens to be among the dirty cops. Will he outfox the determined prosecutor? Both men trudge into the complicated and perilous corridors of justice on journeys that will forever transform them. And be prepared for the indelible, heart-catching third act.
Much ofthe film’s plot is based on the novel,Tainted Evidence,authored by Robert Daley.The crime-themed book is dense and detailed, so credit to Lumet for condensing it down to 109 minutes, a time that passes rapidly thanks to the charged plot storyline and powerhouse performance.According to Sydney Lumet, asecondary inspiration for the story was a real-life incident surrounding the criminal Larry Davis, who eluded police at the scene of a drug raid. During the exchange of fire, Davis shot six NYPD officers and remained on the run for 17 days. Sam Vigoda is based on the attorney William Kunstler, who defended Davis.
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Art imitates itself, sometimes involuntarily, so it’s hardly surprising thatJoey Allegretto and Sean Casey are very similar to the iconic characters played by James Gandolfini and Andy Garcia. From the outside, Allegretto looks like your usual law-abiding officer who wants to cage as many bad guys as possible. His calm, collected voice holds us fast, but in this slick, smart crime drama, nothing is quite as it seems. In secret, he has different intentions. Money is the goal, not justice, and he is willing to whack any former associate who no longer causes his wallet to swell.
Tony Soprano is the same type of person. To a random person, he seems like an average American dad and businessman. He just runs a sanitation company, right? No way. Tony is at the top of the hierarchy of New Jersey’s biggest underworld faction, the DiMeo crime family. He is interested in nothing but lucre, hence the reason he is lenient to high-earning Capos, even when they commit serious sins. And whenever someone is no longer useful, he seriously considers making themsleep with the fishes.
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Sean Casey, too, isn’t different from Andy Garcia’sGodfather IIIcharacter, Vincent Mancini. He isappointed to a major position despite not being the most deserving of it.Like Vincent, Seanloves his father (figure) very much, but his father did some things in the past that will make life for both of them very difficult in the future. Sean has to figure out how to deal with the fact that his father was a dirty cop. Vincent has to deal with Michael’s enemies, most of whom are ready to kill.
In the ‘90s, you also couldn’t have an actor as good-looking as Andy Garcia in a movie and fail to grant him a romance arc.Sean’s romance with Peggy, a member of Vigoda’s legal team, is one of the highlights of the Sidney Lumet film. Vincent, too, takes a shine to Michael’s daughter, Mary, and they start a relationship. Unfortunately, the love story is cut short via one ofcinema’s most tragic moments.
Sydney Lumet Also Circles Close to Home in the Crime Drama
Night Falls in Manhattanis unlike any crime film that Sidney Lumet ever made, yet running through it is an aesthetic and an unmistakable sense of morality that permeates all of his other gems. Almost everyone in America’s movie industry values Los Angeles, butLumet preferred to work in New York City, shunning Hollywood’s dominance.The director grew up in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, where he witnessed corruption and encountered crime several times. He thus became fascinated with his topics and came to rely on them in his filmmaking exploits.
Many of Lumet’s visionary moviesare set in the city. They tend to be geographically sweeping and, in their steadily paced but probing set pieces, psychologically profound. Never before has a director devoted himself so unswervingly to touring his city in film, and there is a good reason why. In the bookSidney Lumet: Interviews by Joanna E. Rapf., the filmmaker reveals that he “always like being in Woody Allen’s world.” He elaborated, stating that “the diversity of the City, its many ethnic neighborhoods, its art and its crime, its sophistication and its corruption, its beauty and its ugliness, all feed into what inspires me.” Lumet felt that he needed to confront reality daily to be a great creator. To him, “New York is filled with reality; Hollywood is a fantasyland.”
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Lumet was also fond of social justice issues. His debut film,12 Angry Men,considered one of thegreatest legal dramasever made, tackles such topics well, and so do movies likeSerpicoandThe Pawnbroker. From the fragility of justice to police corruption, he always thirsted for major issues, something he maintained inNight Falls in Manhattan. The film is slightly unsettling and dark, precisely because it has the ring of truth. Was he hoping to sweep away the moral cant of America? Not really. The director famously stated that he doesn’t believe movies have the power to change anything.
Hitting all the major touchstones of the crime genre (tough dudes, greed, and sexy dames), this is, therefore, the perfect movie for the true Sidney Lumet fan, but also for the viewer concerned about right and wrong. There is no glorification of wrongdoing. Just a serious effort to get the bad guys, whether they are wearing uniforms or Gucci shirts.
