Director Sidney Lumet (Serpico) wants to combine the gritty organized crime of “The Sopranos” with the wacky Mob yucks of Analyze This – and he has chosen none other than Vin Diesel to bridge that cavernous gap. The movie is based on the landmark trial of a New Jersey crime family, but it focuses mainly on the courtroom antics of Giacomo
DiNorscio (Diesel), a convicted drug dealer who defends himself with a mix of goodfella bravado and blue-collar charm. Diesel comes off better than you would expect – he taps into some of his Boiler Room charisma – but the movie is too eager to anoint him a hero simply for refusing to rat on his friends.
