Prince of the City

Sidney Lumet’s film about Robert Leuci — a real-life narcotics detective caught in a web of intra-force betrayal — dispenses with backstories, motivations, and real names. What remains is nearly three hours of disorientation and paranoia, accented by Method-y monologue outbursts that quickly disappear into a vacuum of overwhelming loneliness. Despite more than 100 speaking parts, Treat Williams’ Leuci seems to float through Prince of the City in solitude. EXTRAS In a stellar making-of, Lumet discusses the movie’s complex visual strategies. B+