The titular character in trying to figure out why his parents were executed over treason as USSR at the time spies.

And how he and his younger sister were really messed up as she is in a mentally ill hospital there. He is a grad student that has in the taken up his late parents ideas in liberalism.

While trying to find his place in the world and alienating his young wife and son named after his executed father.

It is a take on the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg case of the 1950's.

Sidney Lumet's film version of E.L. Doctorow's novel THE BOOK OF DANIEL is beautifully done and deeply heartfelt, but somehow falls short of becoming a classic. As the disillusioned son of Rosenbergian parents, Timothy Hutton is terrific as he tries to figure out what his parents lives were all about and what their deaths meant. Hutton brings the perfect sadness to his role and he's matched by Amanda Plummer as his very angry and ultimately self-destructive sister. Like the Doctorow book, the films bends time telling the parallel stories of Hutton and Plummer along with that of their doomed parents. It's not always smooth, but it's mostly powerful stuff. A major deficit is the casting of Mandy Patinkin and Lindsay Crouse as the parents. They're two of the most affected actors around and they're difficult to sympathize with. The large supporting cast includes Tovah Feldshuh, Ellen Barkin, Maria Tucci, John Rubenstein, and Ed Asner, who gives a great performance as the parent's lawyer.

I knew about DANIEL for years because it's one of Sidney Lumet's less remembered movies and since I am like the major expert on lesser movies (judging from most of the titles I rated and/or reviewed here in 8 years), one day I would have finally seen it. That day arrived last June, and I found it merely ok.

When it begins we hear Daniel Isaacson's (Timothy Hutton) voice explaining how the electric chair works and after these first minutes we are introduced to the Isaacson family when Daniel's sister Susan (Amanda Plummer) becomes obsessed with revolution and Daniel thinks that his family is kinda marked. This because his parents Paul (Mandy Patinkin) and Rochelle are accused of being Soviet spies, so Daniel will investigate until their parents' unevitable execution.

I liked and disliked DANIEL. From one hand Sidney Lumet's style is evident, and the acting by Hutton in the title role and Plummer as his sister was great. But on the other hand it's a bit too long considering the subject matter and I think that if they would have cut 25 minutes it would have been better. Also, scenes of the present are intervowen with scenes and Daniel and Susan when they grew in an institution because they weren't allowed to stay in the same household with their parents, and the cuts were simply a distraction. Yet, but this counts as another plus, the execution scenes were very realistic like when they happened in real life (and still happen in a few States).

Overall, a mixed bag from one of America's most acclaimed directors but if you can separate its shortcomings from its strong points, you still have a decent story with some great acting, and for this reason alone I would recommend it since it's also available on YouTube.