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Film

When bad isn't all that bad

Citizen Verdict, filmed in part in the Tampa Bay area, stars Jerry Springer. Enough said. Except it has some entertainment value.

By STEVE PERSALL
Published May 5, 2005

Citizen Verdict is an enjoyably bad movie on several counts, from its pseudo-topicality and stilted drama, to trashier moments when talk show host Jerry Springer frolics with naked women and doesn't even toss them beads.

There's also the fact that Citizen Verdict is set and partially filmed around the Tampa Bay area. Unlike The Punisher, there aren't many chances to admire our local sights, since most of the film was produced in South Africa.

First-time director Philippe Martinez is a veteran producer of movies aimed at overseas markets and home video. His Bauer Martinez Studios relocated production offices from London to Largo a few months ago, and Citizen Verdict is the company's first attempt at U.S. theatrical distribution. Tampa Bay theaters are his test market to gauge audience reaction before deciding how far to push the release.

I don't expect Citizen Verdict to show up at megaplexes nationwide. But moviegoers who check it out - with the proper sense of campy appreciation - may consider it a guilty pleasure.

Springer plays reality TV producer Marty Rockman, whose latest project allows viewers to hear evidence in a high-profile capital murder case, decide the defendant's guilt or innocence, then watch the execution on pay-per-view television. Florida's governor Bull Tyler (Roy Scheider) incredibly approves the show as part of his law-and-order agenda. Telegenic attorney Sam Petterson (Armand Assante) is hired to defend the alleged killer (Raffaello Degruttola) of a popular TV cooking show host.

We can predict the case will be stacked to ensure a pay-per-view bonanza, but the hysterics, polemics and shoestring touches accompanying that situation are something to behold. Martinez doesn't simply wrap his movie in a U.S. flag; he smothers it, with too-serious declarations of the American Way, even incorporating The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Heavy-handed social commentary is funny when it comes from a carnival barker like Springer, just like the deadpan approach other actors apply to a string of ludicrous situations.

And, like any movie deserving a drive-in showing, Citizen Verdict finds time for sex, with Rockman using his celebrity to make whoopee with nubile women. I can hear Springer's fans chanting "Jerry, Jerry" now.

As a film critic, there isn't much here to like. As someone who loves movies, I couldn't stop enjoying the determined way Citizen Verdict aims low and hits the target.

Grade: C-

Director: Philippe Martinez

Cast: Armand Assante, Jerry Springer, Roy Scheider, Raffaello Degruttola, Justine Mitchell, Paul Wilson

Screenplay: Tony Clarke, Kristina Hamilton, Philippe Martinez, Frank Rehwaldt

Rating: R; harsh profanity, sexual situations, nudity, violent themes

Running time: 97 min.

[Last modified May 3, 2005, 14:10:06]