The Verdict / Sometimes a Great Notion

THE VERDICT, 1982, 20th Century Fox, 129 min. Sidney Lumet directs Paul Newman as a washed-up alcoholic Boston lawyer who is tossed a malpractice case by a colleague. When he realizes the impact to his client's family, he stubbornly takes on the Catholic archdiocese, which runs the offending hospital, and their lawyer (James Mason). He also tries to navigate his prickly romance with younger Charlotte Rampling.

SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION, 1971, Universal, 114 min. Paul Newman makes his second foray behind the camera and stars in this adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel about an independent family of Oregon loggers. Henry Fonda is the patriarch, hard-headed Newman, born-again Richard Jaeckel and rebellious Michael Sarrazin are three very different brothers and Lee Remick is Newman's wife. The family hits paydirt when they fail to honor a loggers' strike. But they face burgeoning hostility from other locals, and the business boom comes with a harrowing price.