Odd teaming of man-of-integrity A-list studio director Sidney Lumet (Twelve Angry Men, Serpico, The Verdict) with muckraking, lively independent screenwriter Larry Cohen (It's Alive, God Told Me To, Q: The Winged Serpent), the court-room drama Guilty As Sin relies rather heavily on the plot of Jagged Edge. Jack Warden reprises Robert Loggia's grumpy but decent private-eye role exactly, while ice-maiden lawyer Rebecca De Mornay is ensnared in a web of duplicity and violence by her client (Don Johnson), accused of murdering his wife. It hasn't got the gravitas of Lumet's best or the maniacal energy of top-rate Cohen film, but as a no-brain thriller it offers a couple of edgy, interesting star performances, with Johnson in particular cutting loose from his image with a display of razor-edged smiling charm as the killer gigolo. --Kim Newman