Power of Attorney

When Mafia boss Joseph Scassi faces indictments for murder and extortion, he leverages every scrap of influence to protect himself. The story follows how Scassi assembles legal teams, leans on old allies, and uses intimidation to keep witnesses and rivals off balance, while prosecutors and reporters try to piece together a case. Tension comes from the clash between entrenched criminal power and the slow-moving legal system, and from the personal costs paid by those caught in the crossfire. The film keeps its focus tight on strategy and consequence, avoiding surprise twists while showing how far a man will go to stay untouchable.

Released in 1995, Power of Attorney was directed by Howard Himelstein and created by Jeffrey Barmash, George Erschbamer, and Roger Wilson. The cast is led by Danny Aiello as Joseph Scassi, with Elias Koteas, Rae Dawn Chong, Roger Wilson, and Nina Siemaszko in supporting roles.

The picture had a relatively low profile on release, with limited theatrical exposure and no widely reported box office haul. It found a larger portion of its audience later through home video and cable showings, where crime movie collectors and genre fans could encounter it.

Power of Attorney never became a mainstream landmark, but it has a modest afterlife among viewers who seek 1990s crime dramas. Aiello's presence and the film's gritty, procedural feel give it a recognizable mood, and it turns up now and then in discussions about overlooked mob pictures from that era.

Critical reception leaned negative to mixed, reflected in a low user rating around 4.6 out of 10. Viewers and reviewers tended to praise certain performances, especially Aiello's, while pointing to uneven pacing and a screenplay that sometimes settles for routine plotting. The film is most interesting for its focus on legal maneuvering and corruption, and for showing how power is exercised behind the scenes rather than through flashy action.