Legendary filmmaker Sidney Lumet continued to work until pretty close to his death in 2011. For one of his later career efforts, we go to 1996’s Night Falls on Manhattan.

When cops pursue drug dealer Jordan Washington (Shiek Mahmud-Bey), the situation goes badly awry. This leaves three officers dead and Detective Liam Casey (Ian Holm) in critical condition.

Basically as a PR move, District Attorney Morgenstern (Ron Leibman) appoints rookie Assistant District Attorney Sean Casey (Andy Garcia) – Liam’s son – to prosecute. As Sean’s career progresses, he discovers pitfalls along the way, many related to issues connected to the Washington case.

With flicks like Serpico, Prince of the City and The Verdict under his belt, the themes of Night fall well within Lumet’s wheelhouse. This means I didn’t worry about his ability to handle the topics at hand.

I did feel some concern about Lumet’s less than stellar track record over his final two decades or so as a filmmaker. Although I didn’t see all of Lumet’s films after Verdict in 1984, those I did watch ranged from semi-decent to pretty terrible.

Where does Night land in this spectrum? Basically in that “semi-decent” domain, as it offers a watchable thriller but not anything especially memorable.

Based on Robert Daley’s 1993 novel Tainted Evidence, Night takes considerable liberties with the source. For instance, the book focuses on a female Assistant AD who falls in love with the case’s main witness, a plot line that never appears here.

Night also tends to bite off more than it can chew, and this means it rushes through events awfully quickly. Most stories of this sort would focus on Casey’s investigation into the events that left his dad wounded, but that side of the plot – and Jordan’s trial – wraps up about halfway through the film.

As such, Night tears through those events really rapidly. Sean’s life after that also marches ahead in a manner that speeds through the subjects.

This means we get sketchy development, as everything occurs without much exposition. For instance, Sean’s romance with fellow attorney Peggy Lindstrom (Lena Olin) kind of pops up out of nowhere and feels like unnecessary window-dressing.

Not much about the main narrative really connects either. While the basic story offers compelling subject matter, Night zooms through all the material so quickly that it lacks much real impact.

Perhaps to compensate for the lack of depth, Night tends to go melodramatic. Much of the film leans toward overwrought.

That said, Night comes with enough intrigue to keep up with it, and it also boasts a solid cast. In addition to those already mentioned, we find talents like Richard Dreyfuss, Colm Feore and James Gandolfini.

Garcia does fine in his sketchy role, though he makes no sense as a character of obvious Irish lineage – he couldn’t look less Irish if he tried. And in what world can we believe Andy Garcia as Ian Holm’s kid?

In his audio commentary, Lumet tries to explain this choice. His argument seems less than convincing, unfortunately, and Garcia just feels like the wrong fit for the role.

Even with all these flaws, Night remains a watchable potboiler. However, it comes with too much talent to end up as something this erratic and ordinary.

Night Falls on Manhattan appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie offered an appealing image.

Overall sharpness seemed good, as only an occasional sliver of softness materialized. The vast majority of the flick appeared well-defined and concise.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering appeared, though, and I noticed no edge haloes or print flaws. Grain felt natural, so I suspected no issues connected to noise reduction, and I saw no print flaws.

As expected, this moody flick went with a subdued palette, one that tended to favor blues. The colors largely felt well-reproduced.

Blacks looked dark and deep, while low-light shots seemed smooth. I felt pleased with the image, as it replicated the source in an appropriate manner.

I also liked the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Night, as the soundfield seemed surprisingly active and engaging. The movie featured a frequently vibrant and involving mix that used all five channels well.

Most of the audio remained in the front, where music showed solid stereo imaging and effects were well placed and blended together cleanly. The surrounds added positive reinforcement of those elements plus quite a lot of useful unique audio.

The movie’s occasional loud scenes – mainly related to police actions – were moderately impressive. Overall, the track still showed good sense of atmosphere as a whole.

Audio quality also appeared strong. Dialogue seemed natural and distinct, and I heard no problems related to edginess or intelligibility. Music was bright and vibrant with good clarity and dynamic range.

Effects were also clean and accurate, and they showed fine fidelity. Overall, Night provided a well-rendered auditory experience.

As we shift to extras, we find two separate audio commentaries, the first of which comes from writer/director Sidney Lumet. He provides a running, screen-specific look at the source and its adaptation, story/characters, stabs at realism, sets and locations, cast and performances, photography and editing, makeup effects, music, and related domains.

Prior Lumet commentaries ranged from excellent to blah. Happily, this one winds up closer to the top of the pile.

Lumet proves engaging and informative throughout this track. He offers a good view of the movie.

For the second commentary, we hear from producers Josh Kramer and Thom Mount and actors Andy Garcia and Ron Leibman. All four sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the source’s path to the screen, cast and performances, sets and locations, editing and cinematography,

After Lumet’s terrific track, I worried that this one would come up short. However, it works nearly as well.

Inevitably, some of the same info appears in both, but the different perspectives add value. Expect another engaging and worthwhile commentary.

Called The Directors, a 2002 documentary goes for 59 minutes, 40 seconds. It provides notes from Garcia, Lumet, Leibman, and actors Jacqueline Bisset, Ossie Davis, Dyan Cannon, Melanie Griffith, Jack Lemmon, Rod Steiger, and Christopher Walken.

"Directors" mixes many clips from Lumet movies and the participants offer memories/notes about those flick's as well as Lumet's work. I could live with fewer film snippets but the interviews add real value.

Under On Set Interviews, we find six different segments. These involve Garcia (3:30), actor Richard Dreyfuss (2:46), actor Lena Olin (2:01), actor Ian Holm (3:12), Leibman (4:53) and Lumet (5:26).

These offer thoughts about the project during its shoot. Don't expect great depth, but we get some decent notes, especially from the three actors who don't appear on commentaries.

Behind the Scenes runs 12 minutes, 47 seconds and shows us glimpses of the production from the "fly on the wall" POV. These offer insight and I like this reel a lot.

We conclude with a “Trailer Gallery” that includes both the film’s theatrical trailer as well as three TV spots.

Despite a good cast and a legendary director, Night Falls on Manhattan never quite gets off the ground. While it musters moderate intrigue, it seems too rushed and sketchy to become anything better than spotty. The Blu-ray comes with positive picture and audio as well as a nice roster of bonus materials. Expect a serviceable but mediocre legal thriller.