Sidney Lumet: Filmmaker

I rarely go to movies now. There isn't much nowadays that captures my interest to go sit in a darkened room with strangers and pray that the audience behaves. But, once in a while, one of the giants of film will come down from the mountain and release their ''child'' for us to savor. Then I will make the effort to meet them halfway at the theatre. Sidney Lumet was one such giant and he just passed away on April 9th at 86... Lumet wasn't a person widely known outside of the film industry. He didn't have the ''name'' that most of the public would recognize like a Spielberg, Scorsese, Coppola, or Tarantino. But, he had a body of work that equals and in some cases, exceeds those celebrated talents. Lumet's first movie--- after learning and honing his craft in 50's tv-- was the classic ''12 Angry Men''. It remains one of my all time favorite movies. The simple story of one lone man holding out against 11 other men in believing that a man is innocent. The action takes place in one room on a hot summer's day and if you are interested in fine emsemble acting, check the film out... There, I used the key word: Film. Lumet made films. He loved films. And, most importantly, he respected an audiences intelligence enough to never play dumb with them. He knew you could follow the story as long he did his job and put the story on the screen... By all accounts Lumet belonged to a very small group of people in show business: the group of decent and caring human beings. It sure as hell showed up in his films. The threat of human extinction through nuclear war in ''Fail Safe'', the horrors of being a holocaust survivor in ''The Pawnbroker'', following the life threatening exploits of a decent cop in ''Serpico'', the bank robbers who are very human in his best film ''Dog Day Afternoon'',  the drunken lawyer looking for redemption at the end of his life in ''The Verdict,'' and the insanity that is behind the media in ''Network''. These films-- and many others-- show a master craftsman, who also let the decency that was in his soul  shine through on the silver screen. Treat yourself some time to a Lumet fim. IMDB his list of movies. You won't be sorry... And, here is to you Sidney-- thanks for the memories!!!