Reflections on Sidney (2011) Online

Reflections on Sidney (2011)

*** (out of 4)

The Criterion Collection produced this well-meaning tribute to director Sidney Lumet from screenwriter Walter Bernstein. This ten minute featurette shows us various stills from Lumet's directing career while Bernstein talks about his own career and how he eventually met Lumet. From here we learn about what type of man he was and how Lumet was willing to put his own neck on the line including trying to protect blacklisted writers. There's certainly nothing ground-breaking here but fans of Lumet will find this tribute to be quite touching and it talks about a side of the director that we don't often get to hear about. Bernstein does a good job at talking about what made Lumet so good to a writer as he directed their screenplays.