Starring Andy Garcia, Ian Holm, Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Leibman Directed by Sidney Lumet Rated R, with violence and profanity. Running time 113 minutes Jack gives this film a rating of 10 out of 10

(May 16, 1997) -- No American director takes a scalpel to the corruption in modern urban life with as much skill and forcefulness as Sidney Lumet.

In Prince of the City, Serpico, 12 Angry Men and The Verdict, he's exposed the ways our values and integrity are assaulted on a daily basis in the police precincts, city halls and courtrooms of America. Night Falls on Manhattan, with Andy Garcia, is in that proud tradition.

But while some of his urban dramas tell of corrupt individuals who try to clean up their acts, Night Falls is about a righteous man, trying to avoid a downward slide into compromise and abandoned values.

Garcia plays Sean Casey, an idealistic young lawyer from a family of New York cops, now working as an assistant in the district attorney's office. When he wins a high-profile case involving a drug-dealer who killed police officers, Casey's fast-rising future seems assured. Before you know it, he's Manhattan's new district attorney.

But almost as soon as he's elected, Casey is confronted with a major bribery scandal in the police ranks, and it's tied to the drug dealer he convicted months earlier.

The case turns personal when it's determined that Casey's own father, a veteran cop named Liam (Ian Holm), could possibly be involved. And with that plot element, Night Falls on Manhattan moves beyond police scandals to also generate expressive father-son drama.

And if further proof was ever needed to establish the acting capabilities of Andy Garcia and Ian Holm, note that the handsome young Cuban-born Garcia and the veteran British character actor Holm are utterly convincing as Irish-American son and father.

Beyond that, Garcia also brilliantly demonstrates the growing cracks in Sean Casey's idealistic veneer, and the frustrations they spark. Holm, meanwhile, is convincing as a tough, compact, experienced cop who knows how to keep up his guard, figuratively and literally. And yet, the affection and pride he feels for his son is clear.

Neither Garcia nor Holm has ever been better. Oscar nominators should try not to forget this early-season entry.

Lumet has always been a master at casting his pictures. Here he surrounds Garcia and Holm with a first-rate supporting players. Richard Dreyfuss plays the drug dealer's attorney as a colorful cross between Alan Dershowitz and William Kuntsler; Ron Leibman is Sean's mentor and boss, the hard-hitting and verbose district attorney who was his predecessor; and James Gandolfini as Joey, Liam Casey's long-time partner on the police beat.

In one of the film's very few weak elements, Lena Olin struggles to play an under-developed role as Sean's love interest (and rival attorney).

But that's a minor miscue in this film of resounding dramatic power that finds a great American director back at the top of his game. It's surprising and heartening to experience a film of such mature artfulness and integrity amid the first wave of summer popcorn.