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The Runaway Jury |
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Stars: John cusack, gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz
Rated: PG-13
Director:Gary Fleder
Score: 6.5/10 |
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| Main Attraction |
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| Box Office |
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| The Rest of It |
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Right on the heels of a pretty flat summer comes a pretty suspenseful courtroom drama. Cusack is Nicholas, just a seemingly regular guy who works in an electronics store who receives a jury summons. He sits with friends trying to find ways to get out of it - don't we all? Reminds me of a time I sat in a hallway at the courthouse with a perfect stranger and we laughed our way through 2 solid hours devising the most ridiculous ways to getting selected. One of them involved the questioning process of potential jurors and ending all your opinions with "so let it be written, so let it be done", another had to do with pocketsfull of marbles, but I digress...
The film revolves around violence in the workplace, one man (among many other co-workers) is shot and killed and his wife is seeking justice from the gun manufacturer. Dustin Hoffman is her attorney who seems like a fair and square guy who's out for the little guy. Hackman rolls in as the bigshot attorney who seems to go above and beyond duty. We're talking a secret network with guys tracking the every move of each potential juror. Sordid detials of their past, video surveylance and anything they can find in order to find out the most strategic selection in order to manipulate the outcome of the trial. And he will stop at nothing to win.
But no matter what is going on between both sides, we all know the fate lies in the hands of the jury. Nicholas is positioned so that even though he had no control over who was selected, he learns enough about each person in how to pull them the way he wants without them even realizing. . Rachel Weisz is his strongwilled girlfriend who really seems to be the "man behind the curtain" running the show. It seems clear in the beginning why, but as the movie unfolds more facts are discovered about all characters revealing a more personal motive. |
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It becomes a question of principal or price for Hoffman's character. While there is clearly alot of money behind big corperations who want to win these trials, it makes me wonder how true to life the movie is at times. Do I really want to think it's possible there is an elaborate setup of surveillance on all the juror's, where he would take such a risk as to have them confronted and threatened? Well it makes for a good plot anyways. Hackman is always enjoyable to watch on screen, very driven with an ever-demanding presense. Hoffman on the other hand, and maybe it's simply because I'm not a fan, gives a mediocre performance. Clearly he recycled the same silly attempt at a Southern accent sported in the offbeat comedy "Tootsie". |
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Unfortunately I wasn't very impressed with the films desire to be overly "preachy" on gun control, in fact so much so that it was very hard to simply enjoy the film. It very nearly become more of the story than the story itself. Another might be the fact that I've never seen in real life a jury like this one, it became almost laughable with the alcholic sipping her bottle kept in her purse while the ex-marine does his best at trying to pick a fight on everyone else. I've also never seen a group of people so willing to serve on a jury, from all my experiences about 70% of those who show up try to come up with every reason to get off when being questioned. Nicholas is the monkey wrench thrown in Hackman's well thought out plan of winning this trial, because even one win against the gun manufacturers cannot be afforded. Hackman has based his entire career on being the big guns for the big guys.It's a less than average film, but if you want to be dazzled by some big actor's and courtroom suspense, here's your film. |
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Due to my obsession over small things in movies that drive me absolutely crazy - this shot was included. Hoffman and hackmen get into a heated discussion in a public restroom at the courthouse. I've been to jury duty plenty of times - why there is a lock on the inside of the door? Convenient for the scene, but impractical in what I like to refer to as "the real world". |
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