Starring:
John Cusack.... Nicholas Easter
Gene Hackman.... Rankin Fitch
Dustin Hoffman.... Wendell Rohr
Rachel Weisz.... Marlee
Bruce McGill.... Judge Harkin
Jeremy Piven.... Lawrence Green
Joanna Going.... Celeste Wood
Cliff Curtis.... Frank Herrera
Luis Guzmán.... Jerry Hernandez
Dylan McDermott.... Jacob Wood
Directed by Gary Fleder. Written by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Rick Cleveland, and Matthew Chapman. Based upon the novel "The Runaway Jury" by John Grisham. Produced by Gary Fleder, Christopher Mankiewicz, and Arnon Milchan. Released by 20th Century Fox.
Runaway Jury is a movie filled with great actors, all doing a great job. As the story goes, its kind of lacking. The story is fascinating but many characters are introduced in a way that would elude to those characters having more screen time. At 127 minutes in length, it seems long for a movie but Runaway Jury needs about another twenty minutes to make it a terrific flick. Runaway Jury pulls off an entertaining courtroom thriller with a "writing committee", a group of writers all putting in what they think is a great idea. This usually leads to mottled messes, for example, Scary Movie 3.
Runaway Jury tells the story of a woman whose husband Jacob Wood (Dylan McDermott) was gunned down two years earlier in his stock broking firm in New Orleans. Her attorney Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) decides to go after a gun company and the gun industry by suing them for allowing black market trading of their firearms. The defense is lead by Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman) who is some kind of jury consultant who somehow tells everyone what to do to get the gun companies their verdict. Wendell Rohr tries to be the peoples attorney by allowing mustard stains to fall on his homely suit. Fitch is cunning deductive soulless man who knows how to manipulate the jury for his own best interests.
Even though Hackman and Hoffman steal the show, the main characters are Nicholas Easter (John Cusack) and Marlee (Rachel Weisz) who are also trying to get the jury to swing in their favor. Nicholas Easter first comes on the scene as a gamer that would do anything to get out of jury duty to get to his Madden football tournament. We later learn that he tampered with the voter lists to get himself on to several different gun case juries all over the country, naturally. He and Marlee call and deliver ultimatums to each camp and offer their "services". Marlee is the dispenses the messages by using public pay phones and loves to mess with Fitch in particular and they have a very nice dialogue driven exchange on a trolley that runs its course a tad different then one might expect.
Stealing the show is the caliber of acting. Everyone gives a great performance. John Cusack and Rachel Weisz both continue to shine in their young careers and prove that they will have exciting careers. The most promoted aspect of Runaway Jury is that old friends Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman are finally working together after so many years. They also give exceptional performances especially in the scene that was written for them in courthouse bathroom. Hackman is particularly effective as Fitch, who gives a menacing intelligence that scares a cab driver.
There is only one major problem with Runaway Jury--that there are so many great actors that the story loses track of them. Orlando Jones, Luis Guzmán, Nora Dunn and Jeremy Piven all give great, but short, performances. In Orlando Jones case, we get the sense that his performance was a bit bigger, but was reduced for pacing. He is a rising star who has a few hits under his belt and would deserve to receive a bigger than a bit part. It doesnt feel like a cameo but ends up being one. Cusack's buddy Piven is very likeable as Lawrence Green, the defenses jury consultant. Five minutes is devoted to Green trying to schmooze Rohr into giving him the jury advisor job, but after that scene little screen time is given to him and the film loses a valuable asset. Another consistent supporting player whose star is rising is Luis Guzman, who gives an almost equally fleeting performance. A question comes to mind; did the producers think that filling the roles with talented, recognizable actors would help the film? It is the only problem with it and each actor deserves more screen time.
The movie ends with a twist that is actually surprising. It does end the way you think it would but the twist is in the motivations of those who win. Runaway Jury leaves the viewer with the sense that he or she has used his 8 bucks well and that the film is very good.
So far it has been a good fall movie season with only one (terribly) bad movie, Scary Movie 3. If you have already seen Kill Bill Vol. 1, Lost in Translation and The School of Rock, check this engaging courtroom thriller.
Grade: B+
