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Negotiating scene between lawyer and judge (spoiler)

posted 19 years ago by markamahabir
11 replies | jump to latest

Hi everyone:

I just wanted everyone's thoughts on the negotiating scene between the lawyer and judge (the one where the lawyer and judge hold up fingers to their faces to indicate the amount of the payoff). Does anyone think that this scene would fly today? I find that movies today hardly ever portray judges as corrupt whereas lawyers are considered the lowest of the low. Just a thought on how the american movie culture has changed over time and how Thief remains one of the best by being so over the top.

Marky Mark

[–] FabioPirovano 19 years ago

Great Scene...enquiry and offer,fingers play...AMAZING!

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] porsche1974 16 years ago

Today's audience might not even get the subtle body language in this scene.
But consider this though. It enables the movie to very quickly resolve the issue of getting Okla out of jail so he can die with dignity.

[–] the_departed94 11 years ago

^this..

That flew past me the first time i seen it but the next time i caught on.

[–] Redux006 11 years ago

I think you are underestimating people a tad bit there, it wasn't exactly subtle. They make a big deal out of their strange gestures, and one guy even shouts "what are they doing, picking their noses?", which is immediately followed by the lawyer informing Frank point blank that the judge wanted $6000 for Oakland's release.

[–] filmbuff1974 11 years ago

**SPOILER ALERT***

This goes on every single day and it just isn't in criminal court, but civil court as well. Now, is it as comically overt as shown in this movie? Probably not. But be assured, judges can be and are bribed all the time.

Live Full & Die Empty. Tap Your Potential and Realise Your Dreams!

[–] bo7047 11 years ago

Do a google search for "operation Greylord" this undercover investigation led to the arrest and conviction of several cook county judges. The crime Taking bribes.

[–] enzo_Q 11 years ago

Mann always does extensive research on these things and often uses real life scenarios. so you can be sure: this bribery thing is based on reality.

even Frank's burglary tools were real burglary tools and the film's tehcnical advisors was a real thief.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] meguroutsubo 8 years ago

I find that movies today hardly ever portray judges as corrupt whereas lawyers are considered the lowest of the low.

There was severe distrust of authority figures of all kinds back in the 70s and early 80s. The decade began with Richard Nixon and his crew breaking into the Watergate Hotel and planting listening devices; the Vietnam war was sending American kids to die in a country that hadn't (and couldn't) attack the US; and the disastrous ending to the riot in Attica prison showed that the authorities were capable of treating civilian employees like collateral damage.

I don't know why it is that lawyers are routinely depicted as scum in entertainment but judges seldom are. (In the Al Pacino movie, ...And Justice For All, the judge is a suicidal nutbar; but there aren't many other examples that come to mind.) Perhaps our need for a happy ending simply demands that judges, being in a higher place, will come in at the end of the movie/TV show and set everything straight, because they are old enough and wise enough to play God.

[–] partydjz (424) 5 years ago

Judges all over are on the take, and for another movie reference, how about The Verdict