The verdict Twentieth Century Fox presents ; a Zanuck/Brown production ; executive producer Burtt Harris ; screenplay by David Mamet ; directed by Sidney Lumet. Videorecording

The Verdict is a 1982 American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by David Mamet. It is an adaptation of Barry Reed's 1980 novel of the same name. Once-promising attorney Frank Galvin is an alcoholic ambulance chaser. As a favor, friend and former partner Mickey Morrissey sends him a medical malpractice case which is all but certain to be settled for a large amount. The case involves a young woman given general anesthesia during childbirth at a Catholic hospital, after which she choked on her vomit and was left comatose and on a ventilator. The plaintiffs, her sister and brother-in-law, intend to use the settlement to pay for her care. Frank is deeply affected by a visit to the comatose woman's hospital room. Later, a representative of the Catholic diocese offers a substantial settlement. Without consulting the family, Frank declines and states his intention to take the case to trial, stunning all parties including the presiding Judge Hoyle. Afterwards, Frank meets a woman named Laura in a bar, and becomes romantically involved with her. Frank's case experiences several setbacks: The hospital's high-priced attorney, Ed Concannon, has at his disposal a large legal team that is masterful with the press. His client's brother-in-law angrily confronts Frank after he learns from Concannon's team that Frank rejected the settlement. Frank's medical expert disappears before testifying, and a hastily-arranged substitute's credentials are called into question. Hoyle, who despises Frank, undermines his questioning of the substitute. No one who was in the operating room is willing to testify that negligence occurred. In chambers during the trial, Hoyle threatens Frank with disbarment and arrest. Frank angrily dismisses the judge as a bagman and "defendant's judge" who couldn't "hack it" as a lawyer. He angrily leaves the judge's chambers and slams the door behind him. Kaitlin Costello, the nurse who admitted Frank's client to the hospital, is now a pre-school teacher in New York City; Frank travels there to seek her help. As Laura hastily arranges to meet him, Mickey discovers a check from Concannon in her handbag and realizes Concannon is paying Laura to provide inside information on Galvin's legal strategy. Mickey flies to New York to tell Frank about Laura's betrayal; confronting her in a bar, Frank strikes Laura hard enough to knock her to the floor. Returning to Boston, Mickey suggests moving for a mistrial because of Concannon's ethics violations, but Frank decides to continue. In the courtroom, Costello testifies that she wrote that the patient ate a full meal one hour before being admitted, contradicting her original note of nine hours. On cross-examination, an incredulous Concannon asks her how she can prove this; Costello reveals that before she made the change, she made a photocopy of the original note, and that she brought the copy to court. Concannon objects that for legal purposes, the original is presumed to be correct, but Hoyle unexpectedly reserves judgment. Costello testifies that the anesthesiologist later confessed to her that he had failed to read her admitting notes and administered general anesthesia, which is not proper for someone who ate only an hour previously. As a result, the patient vomited and choked. When the anesthesiologist realized his error, he threatened to end Costello's career if she did not change the "1" to a "9”.

In English, dubbed French or dubbed Spanish; with optional English or Spanish subtitles. Closed-captioned.