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The Verdict

1982 · directed by Sidney Lumet · 129 min
23,747 feet · Prominence
909th of 15,261 films scored
The Rewatchables‘The Verdict’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

How this film scores

Draw60

$54m worldwide in 1982 — $185m in today's money.

As released$54mIn 2026 money$185mRank1,756 of 8,589In 198214 of 82

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise88

Critics 83, awards 62. Half each, so Praise lands at 88.

Critics83 → 41Awards62 → 31

Oscars5 nominated Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay
How Praise works

Half critics, half a tiered award record where Picture and Directing carry most of the weight. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy38

Judged directly: Lumet and Newman respected, rarely invoked.

Verdict38 of 100IMDb7.7 from 48kWikipedia14k views a monthAge44 years

Scored beside it · 1,335 of 3,430 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 60 praise 88 legacy 38averages 62, which places it at23,747 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

In these careers — elevation for this film

Paul Newman22,791 ftBruce Willis21,571 ft