Runaway Jury Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)October 16th, 2003
RUNAWAY JURY
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When the widow of the victim of an office shooting takes the gun manufacturer to court, the high stakes trial draws jury selection specialist Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman), who guarantees a win to the defendant for a multi-million dollar price tag and Lawrence Green (Jeremy Piven), a morally motivated upstart who sells his services to prosecuting attorney Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) for 20% of his fee. What neither of these men know is that there is a third player, Nicholas Easter (John Cusack), who has scammed his way onto the jury itself in order to sway it to the highest bidder in "Runaway Jury."
Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Rick Cleveland and Matthew Chapman adapt the John Grisham novel, switching focus from the tobacco industry to guns, a smart move both dramatically and cinematically. After a truly jolting opener, which sets expectations one way then unexpectedly veers another in depicting the crime, Easter is introduced telling his smoker's coughing super 'You should quit those things.' He seems an everyday Joe honestly anxious to get out of his call to jury duty. Meanwhile Fitch descends upon New Orleans like a celebrity nobody knows. As the crisply efficient Amanda Monroe (Marguerite Moreau) supervises the assembly of a surveillance room, Fitch's imminent arrival is monitored via walkie talkie. A flashy display of the tricks of Fitch's trade make Rohr look like a sitting duck.
Once the game is afoot, the mysterious Marlee (Rachel Weisz), Easter's partner, delivers 'jury for sale' notices to both attorneys. Rohr refuses to listen to Green's entreaties to take the threat seriously until a display of power is wielded when Easter gets the jury to deliver a 'Pledge of Allegiance' in court. A three way game of chess begins as jury members begin dropping.
Director Gary Fleder ("Kiss the Girls") delivers a big, hulking Hollywood movie that pushes all the right entertainment buttons. The cast all do solid, if unexceptional work, although Hoffman plucks his "Tootsie" voice out of retirement to double as a Southern accent. He and Hackman get a chance to grandstand through a men's room confrontation that was added just to get these two in a scene together. Supporting players such as Cliff Curtis, Nora Dunn and Rusty Schwimmer add flavor as embattled jurors.
The film's strengths and minuses lie mostly in Grisham's source material. While Easter's psychological trickery gaining the favor of his fellow jurors is very entertaining, the plot is generally contrived and resolution morally suspect.
"Runaway Jury" always has another trick up its sleeve, though, leaving little time to ponder its shortcomings. It's a slick production that, while not up to "The Firm," is certainly solid second tier Grisham oeuvre.
B-
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