This film is out of the ordinary and multi-dimensional. The plot is complex and there are plenty of surprises in the script. It’s a gritty police crime drama/thriller starring Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante and Nick Nolte.
Q & A has elements of both violence and sentimentality. I would caution viewers that it is not appropriate for children and the first scene includes one of those unexpected violent acts that I tend to loathe because there is no warning of what’s about to happen. I always think it’s very unfair for the director to use that kind of Quentin Tarantino style shock treatment. (BTW I met Tarantino during his filmmaking workshop at the Seattle International Film Festival and he is definitely a very interesting guy. I’ll have more to say on that in a future article…)
Despite the ultra violent intro, Sidney Lumet’s direction in this movie is concise, and as usual he gets the best possible performances from his actors. Nolte is frighteningly corrupt and menacing as Hutton’s nemesis. His acting will evoke strong emotions from the audience which is exactly what an adversarial character is expected to do.
This is not a happy movie. The message is a bit cynical, but I must admit that I developed a certain fascination with the tragic self-destruction of several of the main characters. Lumet focuses on some of the least admirable qualities of human society including racism, drug addiction, organized crime, political corruption and police brutality.
“Q & A” refers to the process of obtaining statements from witnesses by those involved in the investigation of cases of the use of lethal force by police. Like many of his films, such as his work with Al Pacino – Serpico (1973) and Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Q & A is set mainly in New York City.
Armand Assante plays a narcotics dealer from Puerto Rico, which may be a bit of a stretch, but somehow he pulls it off despite his Italian/Irish heritage. Much of the dialogue contains racial epithets which may offend some viewers, but Lumet wrote the screenplay based on Edwin Torres’ book as a way of confronting racism, so it comes across as realism. (Torres also wrote the screenplay for Carlito’s Way.)
The director’s daughter Jenny Lumet portrays Hutton’s love interest. Cynthia and Patrick O’Neil play husband and wife. They were actually married in real life.
One interesting fact is that Sidney Lumet was so appalled by the way the film was edited for television that he refused to put his name on it when it was broadcast on that medium. Instead, he used the pseudonym Al Smithee!
IMDb gives Q & A a 6.6 rating but I think that’s selling it short because the multi-layered storyline, good acting and serious themes deserve a higher rating. I am not an easily impressed cinema buff but this movie held my attention from beginning to end.
Lumet’s directorial debut was considered one of the most prestigious in the history of filmmaking. In 1957 he astounded the world with his treatment of 12 Angry Men.
Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962), The Pawnbroker (1964), Network (1976) and The Verdict with Paul Newman (1982) are good examples of his long list of memorable movies.
Lumet was a hardworking but reputedly fair director who often brought his projects to completion under budget and ahead of the deadline. Any movie studio would love that kind of guy!
Sidney Lumet is probably one of the best directors of all time. His 1970’s era films earned 30 Oscar nominations, winning six times!
It’s no wonder that he’s been described as a “master of cinema”. He was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2005.
