A powerful opening shot: A man alone in the corner of a bar, drinking, smoking, playing pinball against himself. Director Sidney Lumet masterfully frames it dark and intimate.
When he finally loses the game, Paul Newman—playing the alcoholic, ambulance-chasing attorney Frank Galvin—picks up his beer mug and takes a sip. He then looks right into the glass of the pinball machine, staring into his own eyes in the reflection—trying to figure out how he got there and where he’s going. …
