At the time of its initial release two years ago this John Grisham novel-sourced film got such bad reviews that even though I’m a big John Cusack fan and had enjoyed the novel quite a bit I completely ignored it. Silly me. So early evening Saturday and late afternoon Sunday I finally sat down and watched Runaway Jury.
Basic plot: New Orleans stockbroker (Dylan McDermott in a cameo) is shot, along with 10 co-workers, after a recently-dismissed colleague goes postal first thing one Monday morning. Two years later his widow’s (Joanna Going) civil suit against the manufacturer of the gun used to murder her husband is coming to trial. Dustin Hoffman is the old-fashioned southern lawyer who will plead her case, with a bit of support from jury consultant Jeremy Piven. The corporate defense is much more extravagent, with Bruce Davison as lead counsel and Gene Hackman leading a high-tech, low integrity team of jury consultants. Cusack is the fly in this ointment, a member of the jury, in cahoots with girlfriend Marlee (Rachel Weisz) to throw the verdict to the highest bidder.
Director Gary Fleder is the hero in my book. Although highly criticized for changing the industrial villain from Big Tobacco, this seems a reasonable choice to me given the way that industry began losing lawsuits, and losing them badly at many levels, between the book’s publication and the movie’s production. Gun makers, on the other hand, are still nearly always victorious at court. And Fleder moves what could have translated into a plodder, with lots of talky court scenes, into a well-paced thriller. With a twist ending, with only a hint or two as to the outcome, just enough so that one wouldn’t feel cheated by something pulled out of thin air.
recommended
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