| |
 |
|
|
Movies Forum Index » Movie Reviews Forum » Review: Runaway Jury (2003)
Page 1 of 1
|
| Author |
Message |
| Harvey S. Karten |
 Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 10:42 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
RUNAWAY JURY
Reviewed by: Harvey S. Karten
Grade: B
20th Century Fox
Directed by: Gary Fleder
Written by: Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Matthew Chapman,
Rick Cleveland, novel by John Grisham
Cast: John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel
Weisz, Bruce Davison, Bruce McGill, Jeremy Piven
Screened at: Clearview 1st and 62nd, NYC, 10/14/03
If our Founding Fathers took in Gary Fleder's "Runaway Jury,"
they would scarcely recognize two amendments of their Bill of
Rights that were invoked by scripter Brian Koppelman, David
Levien, Rick Cleveland and Matthew Chapman. Oh, they'd like
the film just fine. It's paced faster than a speeding bullet, has a
modicum of suspense and a groovy twist near the conclusion.
But after they checked behind the screen to look for the actors,
they'd be wrapped in discussion about Article II of the Bill of
Rights, which states, "A well-regulated militia being necessary to
the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and
bear arms, shall not be infringed." They'd wonder how people
ever twisted Article VI, "In all...prosecutions, the accused shall
enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial
jury..." Our founders might say that they never intended
ordinary civilians to have guns andl would be horrified at the
way the right to a trial by an impartial jury got perverted with the
emphasis on the word "impartial."
With this adaptation of John Grisham's novel that deals with a
lawsuit against the seven big tobacco companies changed by
the screenwriters to center on a major corporation selling
guns Fleder gives his audience a respite from action-
adventure-special-effects cinema and delivers a powerful
melodrama which is as improbable as it is potent. "Runaway
Jury" may be at heart a soap opera with its tearful widow, its "To
Kill a Mockingbird" style oratory, and its frenzied violence and
emotions, but it turns Grisham's typically cynical tales of pyrrhic
victories into a crowd-pleasing, all-loose-ends-tied-up
conclusion.
Who wouldn't be supportive of a woman whose husband was
gunned down in his New Orleans brokerage office along with
ten others by a disgruntled day trader? She can't sue the killer,
who took his own life along with the innocent victims, nor would
he likely have the money to make an action against him
worthwhile. But she can go a step further and take on the super-
rich, arrogant corporation that made the semi-automatic weapon
responsible for her husband's death. She could scarcely have
made a wiser move than to hire the idealistic Wendell Rohn
(Dustin Hoffman) for her counsel but while the defense attorney,
Durwood Cable (Bruce Davison) seems a nice enough guy, she
did not count on the evil Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman) to throw
several monkey wrenches at the bar.
The major players in this civil action, which opens just two
hours after the murders, are jury consultants; people who may
or may not sit in the courtroom audience but are busy at work
behind the scenes making sure that the good citizens chosen
for the case are friendly to their side. At the same time they're
willing to invest large sums of money to fix the jury should the
chosen ones not be as amenable as they had thought. The
consultants are adept at the psychology of body language and
able to reach into databases to get information on prospective
jurors to intimidate them. When Fitch, prepared to engage in
criminal behavior to win his case, is contacted by a mysterious
woman named Marlee (Rachel Weisz) through juror Nick Easter
(John Cusack), he learns that a verdict can be bought for a
heavy price ($10 million). To cover all bases, Easter and
Marlee make the same illegal offer to the plaintiff.
"Runaway Jury" could have been a high-minded drama fixing
audience eyes on the philosophic aspects of the case;
specifically, could we be impartial enough to ignore the tragedy
of the woman who lost her husband and leave her bereft of any
monetary award because of our belief that the Second
Amendment permits no restrictions on the sale of guns? Or
would we put aside our fears that a large award could promote
all sorts of frivolous cases such as actions against McDonald's
for making us fat and against Coca-Cola for rotting our teeth?
Such a film could have been a fine entry at Cannes or Telluride
or Sundance. Instead, Fleder plays to the bleachers not
necessarily a bad idea by throwing in improbable violence such
as the torching of a juror's apartment, a chase between the
arsonist and the juror, and the beating up of a woman who has
possibly overreached her ambition.
The dialogue is crisp, the performances of the ensemble
involving seventy-five speaking parts an example of teamwork
that could win the pennant if jury trials were the equivalent of
major league baseball. Gene Hackman is the perfect villain,
oiling his way about the set as he did as the improbable rapist-
president in Clint Eastwood's "Absolute Power." Hoffman's
goody-goody role does not leave him the same latitude, allowing
John Cusack to dominate the story, twisting the jury just like
Henry Fonda in Sidney Lumet's "12 Angry Men."
Grisham novels take place in the author's southern territories;
Robert Elswit's New Orleans photography, capturing the
wrought-iron balconies and the obligatory saxophone playing
"When the Saints Go Marching In," provides appropriate
ambiance.
Rated PG-13. 127 minutes.(c) 2003 by Harvey Karten at
Harveycritic@cs.com
==========
X-RAMR-ID: 36017
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1206976
X-RT-TitleID: 1126402
X-RT-SourceID: 570
X-RT-AuthorID: 1123
X-RT-RatingText: B |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| |
|
Page 1 of 1
All times are GMT - 5 Hours
The time now is Fri Sep 05, 2008 6:41 pm
|
|