AllMovie

A noble judge attempts to put an end to the corruption that plagues Palermo in director Ricky Tognazzi's adaptation of Alexander Stille's best-selling novel detailing the hazardous career of real-life judge Giovanni Falcone. The setting is Palermo, Italy, and the decade is the 1980s. As the grip of corruption tightens like a vice on the city, one judge has vowed to bring down the Mafia even if it costs him his life. Judge Falcone (Chazz Palminteri) knows well that honest-minded judges have a notoriously short lifespan, but he also knows what's right, and he's not willing to go down without a fight. As the intense pressure to call off the investigation and look the other way increases from all sides, the good judge vows to stay the course and ensure that the citizens of Palermo don't fall prey to the ruthless racketeering of a criminal organization whose power is only exceeded by their brutality.