Customer Reviews
By
Madasllen Price (Boulder,Colorado)
While I'm still new to the whole John Grisham experience, Runaway Jury was a real good theater experience. The acting is fantastic, and the issue raised about gun control is a very touchy subject to tackle. Rachel Weisz is sunning as the woman with a price to offer, and Gene Hackman is fantastic as the bad guy of the show who wants to secure a verdict , and John Cusack is great as well as a juror who is more than meets the eye.
The hoopla about the right to bear arms is a bit off center and a bit bias but the movie is still a real winner.
By
Samuel McKewon (Lincoln, NE)
The plot goes round and round in "Runaway Jury" and the camera is in lockstep, swirling around its actors as if they stood at the pivot of a merry-go-round, dizzying the audience into a headache of chaos, the better to distract them from a movie that makes no sense at all. That said, the story is so thorough in its cynic fantasy it is (like, say, "Cruel Intentions") pretty entertaining.
Gene Hackman, who at 73 never slows down, is sternly malevolent as Rankin Fitch, a high-priced jury consultant whose arsenal of espionage tools and recon foot soldiers rivals the KGB. The "war room" scene where he breaks down his potential pawns is informative; though nobody is going to spend $15 million to select 12 people - as movie contends - there is an art to it, and the technique is laid out far better here than it was in "Devil's Advocate."
Fitch assists a New Orleans gun manufacturer caught i n a class action lawsuit only plausible in movies, and one of the jurors, Nick Easter (John Cusack), and his girlfriend, Marlee (Rachel Weisz), are blackmailing both the defendant and the plaintiff, represented by Wendall Rohr (Dustin Hoffman). Nick and Marlee claim they can sway the jury and sell the verdict to the highest bidder. As the plot unfurls it becomes possible that they aren't trying to buy anything, but play a con, backed by a Moral. That's a sweet proletariat consideration, but in terms of doing justice, it's robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Director Gary Fleder ("Don't Say A Word") is far more devoted to winding us up than meditating on the legal system; with cinematographer Robert Elswit, Fleder jerks and spins and speeds and slows and generally makes a drama soup out of things; New Orleans, one of the truly original cities, is merely background.
Stuffed to the brim with action, "Runaway Jury" is economical and workmanlike, like Grisham's thrillers, and a stron g vehicle for performers. Hackman, borrowing from his magnificent work in "The Royal Tanenbaums" is a fine rascal, and Cusack hasn't been this shifty since "The Grifters."
The surprise? It's Weisz, as the feisty brains of the operation. She holds her own with Hackman, which is more than can be said for a broken-down, weathered Hoffman.
By
DavidRoss (Woodland, CA United States)
Director Gary Fleder has previously made several mediocre Hollywood thrillers that incidentally glamorize violence. Now he turns one of John Grisham's best novels--an intricately-plotted thriller about jury-tampering in a tobacco trial--into a mediocre Hollywood thriller that shamelessly propagandizes for the gun control lobby. Has he suddenly grown some sort of conscien ce? Or tumbled into the sack with Sarah Brady, or Ed Asner, or ...?
It's too bad this production got carried away with preaching to the converted, for it sabotages Grisham's splendid story and a first-rate cast for the sake of it's ham-fisted anti-gun political agenda. Gene Hackman is excellent (as usual) as the professional jury-rigger. John Cusak and Rachel Weisz are nearly as good as his amateur nemeses. Unfortunately, Dustin Hoffman demonstrates again that his best days are far behind him with another competent but uninspired performance. (What's with that accent?) And a strong supporting cast (including Bruce Davison, Nora Dunn, Bruce McGill, & Jeremy Piven) is mostly wasted in this misguided adaptation. Even so, their good performances and first-rate production values make this movie moderately entertaining, as long as you don't expect fidelity to Grisham's story--or unless the absurdly one-sided propagandizing strains your credulity beyond the breaking point.
By
Hedi Bosworth (Morris Plains, New Jersey)
While I do understand the fact that books that becomes movies usually do not follow the same pattern of the book, I can't forgive the fact that this film does not even follow the book's theme. While that does bother me, I can't deny the fact that the movie was entertaining. Mostly because of the performances of the actors involve. The Best of these performances goes to Gene Hackman, who is always a delight to watch and is always capable of taking a mediocre film and making it better. The other goes to Rachel Weisz, who not only holds her own with the Great Gene Hackman but also matches his intensity with lethal charm. Don't go in with the notion that this will be just like the book, but go in knowing that yo u will be entertain by two great actors at there game.
By
Jessica Blomburg (Seattle USA)
Good actors do there best when they are inspired, and they can save a real bad movie from totally destroying itself. Runaway Jury is a perfect example of this ideal, and you can look no further than the performances giving by all who participated in this film. Gene Hackman is no stranger to this notion, and gives a great sense of class, and humility to an other wise cookie cutter bad guy. Rachel Weisz not only holds her own with the big boys but literally makes them sweat in the acting department as well. Giving both Hackman and Hoffman a worthy adversary in and out of the courtroom, and making them know that they are not going to steal the movie by themselve s. And Dustin Hoffman brings a sense of heart and humanity to his role, which sadly is not very big to begin with. All the supporting actors do well themselves with John Cusack, Luis Guzman, and Bruce Davison giving great support. Judging by the talent involved, you will guess that this might be a great movie but it's not. That's because the screenplay, the editing, and the director betrays them and their performances with a film that feels very unfinished, and amateurish to say the least. The story, which deals with guns, is really not about them but about the state of which one will go for messing with the legal system. It's a noble story to tell but when you are hammering the idea of gun responsibility, and accountability to the viewer with out equal say about the benefits, you are in trouble, and you can thank the screenplay for that. The editing feels way to raw to be a real final cut, and the direction feels too disjointed to be even considered professional.
With al l these problems going for it, it's the showmanship of Gene Hackman, Rachel Weisz, and Dustin Hoffman that moves the film forward, but they should not have had to work that hard to save this bad movie. The director and the people behind the scenes should carry the blunt of the responsibility as well, and judging by the way the acting literally saves this movie, they did nothing to help the actors involved.
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