Final Verdict (2009 TV Movie) User Reviews (8)

Knowing too much can be very very dangerous

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 4 January 2010]

(There are Spoilers) Mind twisting murder drama that takes, in movie time, almost ten years to unravel. It all starts simply enough with the conviction of New York City restaurateur William McCauley, Bruce Dinsmore, in the contract murder of his wife Patricia, Maxine Morin.

It was hit-man Luis Alvaraz, Edward Yankie, who's testimony convinced the jury of McCauley's guilt in Patricia's murder even though her body was never found! Alvarez said that after he blew Particia away, with a bullet to the chest and head, he pumped her body into the East River where it was washed out to sea. This conviction made both Manhattan D.A Ry Voss, Sabastian Roberts, and his assistant, and secret lover, Magen Washington's, Erica Dyrance, popularity go sky high with both advancing in both city politics, with Voss running for major, and the NYC Justice Deartment; with Magen now in line for Voss' job as the city's new District Attorney. That's until eight years later when the proverbial sh*t suddenly hit the fan with Particia's body discovered in a construction site in Manhattan's lower East Side not out as sea as her "killer" Luis Alvaraz testified to where he disposed of it!

The movie "Final Verdict" starts to get real murky when almost out of nowhere Casey Gordon, Steve Byer, comes on the scene and offers his services, as a private detective, to Megan who's in fact anything but interested in them. The fact that Casey saved Magen's life, from being frozen to death in a walk-in freezer, doesn't seem to make a dent on her. But It's Casey's uncovering a number of important clues to who was behind Patricia McCauey's murder that did! The key to all that leads Magen to Little Oddessa in Brighton Beach Brooklyn where the headquarters of the notorious Organiztsya or Russian Mafia is situated.

***SPOILERS*** It was Particia's involvement with the Russian Mafia and its boss Ivan Guergerin, Bill Croft, that put into motion the events that lead to not only her murder but those of all the major figures, with the exception of Magen & Voss, in her husbands trial and convection! ****Major Spoiler***The story starts to lose traction when it tries to tie all the loose ends in it together by making it look like the person who's really the victim of this gross injustice, guess who, into its major villain! In fact the real villain, in my opinion, in the film got off easy in that he ended up, even though shot, alive with a very good chance of being found innocent at his future trial, if he were to go on trial in the first place, on an insanity defense!

Typical Canadian self effacement

[rps-2 · 4/10 · 24 June 2009]

Oh dear, here we go again, yet another movie shot in Canada by Canadians, subsidized by Canadian taxpayers, produced for Canadian television. Yet the damn thing is set in the USA with US cops, US district attorneys, US judges... Doesn't anybody up here have THE GUTS to do a movie like this set in Canada????? The Canadian film industry will always be THIRD RATE so long as it panders this way to the US market. Appalling!!! Having vented on this subject, as I do regularly, it was not a bad film. Reasonably well shot. Competently acted. Decently written (although the plot gets a little confusing towards the end.) I would have given it a 7 but knocked it down to 4 because of the craven cinematic colonialism.

Any Plot?

[lurch-17 · 4/10 · 22 November 2022]

Another faux US movie made by Canadians with a ridiculous plotline. But good acting by the female lead. Always a token African-Canadian cop who dies - Usually the only Afro-Canadian in the movie. Can't they find more than one Afro-Canadian and actually give them a serious role?

Where do they sell this ridiculous-formula stuff? Was this made for US TV? US TV or Canadian TV? Aren't Canadian TV viewers hoping for something actually set in and portraying Canada? Or do they even see this drivel in Canada?

The real 'Final Verdict', based on Adela Rogers St. John about her father Earl Rogers was a little better - with Treat Williams and Glenn Ford made in 1992 and an American movie about Americans filmed in the United States.

This stuff litters amazon and tubi because it costs so little. Are these actors making minimum wage?

Zzzzzzzzz

[pranesh-34163 · 1/10 · 4 December 2019]

Basic plot. Far fetched and fanciful scenes. Bagful of money just sitting there for 8 years. No one found it but a quick search 8 years later - bingo. Poor dialogue. Very boring.

Ok Day 2

Now I have watched a bit more - hoping. Nothing happened so I logged in to update this before I fell into a coma.

I am now going off to watch grass grow.

Grass is great - back to the movie. Day 3 Found out the murderer. Wow. Preposterous.

This story seems to be written by a random scenario generator and then stitched together.

Hard to put this into a genre. Perhaps junk.

TV Crime Drama Unwittingly Turns Into Comedy

[lavatch · 2/10 · 26 August 2017]

Despite the good effort of actress Erica Durance in carrying this made-for-television thriller, the overall effect was nearly comical in some of the plot revelations and character developments.

Durance plays an assistant DA whose career was boosted with a guilty verdict of a man accused of murdering his wife. In the sensational murder trial, Meg Washington convinced the jury of the man's guilt despite no murder weapon or body. It was not until eight years later that the woman's body was discovered. At that moment, the case is reopened, and the skeletons begin to emerge out of the closet of the DA's office.

The filmmakers attempt to create tension with multiple murder suspects, but the narrative becomes mind-numbingly unconvincing. There is also the attempt to weave in a romantic intrigue when Meg starts up an affair with a cub reporter, who becomes her lead investigator.

The defining moment of this film occurs in a large freezer in an old restaurant formerly owned by the murder victim and her husband, who is the murder suspect and was convicted of the crime. Meg decides to break into the restaurant at night to search for clues. After discovering a bag of money in the amount of $500,000, Meg is knocked to the ground apparently by an intruder. She then escapes to a small room that turns out to be restaurant's freezer compartment! Meg starts to shiver because the freezer is somehow still operative. When it appears as though she might freeze to death, she is rescued by the young male reporter. She then treats him with contempt until he starts bringing her important clues. At that point, they begin their love affair. The film never bothers to explain who or why the murderer would stash a half million dollars in cash in an old deserted restaurant. Nor does it explain why was paying the electrical bills to keep that freezer running. Wow!

The freezer scene, along with many other semi-comical sequences, leads one to sum up the action of this film in a single word: Preposterous!

Boring, low budget movie.

[x_xanadu · 4/10 · 1 January 2020]

Movie shot on video says enough. Low budget and predictable to the very end. Waste of time.

It was Good

[smartalec_huntress · 7/10 · 27 March 2009]

I thought it was a good movie, Erica was great in it. I don't see how people can say she can't act when she obviously can. The storyline was very predictable in some parts but it was a good watch. It did have mystery and was cool to figure it out. Erica was believable, and she did a good job portraying her serious character, which she really isn't all that used to. The only thing bad was her first boyfriend/lover (ex), and i wanted to strangle him. And she really should have known better....but she did figure it out, and the reporter was cute. I loved the tribute to Erica's portrayal of Lois Lane by adding that little comment at the end of the movie about her becoming a reporter. It was a nice movie to watch at home...not theatre material but good.

Final Verdict - narrow plot - well acted

[bluwaves · 7/10 · 24 April 2009]

Erica Durance in Final Verdict, What is not to love? She can get inside the script and character of the role she plays and do it well. For every negative opinion out there from people that could not even successfully complete a high school drama course, there are 99 more who love you Erica Durance.

I have to watch Final Verdict on LMN again because I missed part of it. But I did catch the love scene and would like to contact Steve Beyers and ask him what is it like?! I can't stand it! Sweet dreams........Its All FINE ALRIGHT.

Portraying the role of a Lawyer is not exactly the same as the role of driving a bus wired with explosives and you can't go slower than 50mph! Has anyone out there ever paid close attention to their attorney? They can be pretty dry and boring with all their legalese, and your usually relieved you only had a 20 minute appointment.

Any one casting their self proclaimed legendary opinion as negative toward this film and the characters scripted, seem to have forgotten one important fact in all their complaining...... ITS A SCRIPT!! .. AND THE CHARACTERS WERE PORTEAYED JUST AS THEY WERE INTENDED.

I enjoyed this movie and will finish what I missed taking in the first time around. Thank you Lifetime Movie Network