Runaway Jury
June 9th 2008 07:38
Runaway Jury - 2003
Directed by Gary Fleder
Starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz
The film is based on the book titled, 'The Runaway Jury,' by John Grisham. Grisham's book is based around the battle between a large corporate heavyweight in the form of a fictional tobacco company and a recently widowed wife; husband prematurely dies because of the company's cigarettes.
Considering that the writers had been working on the script for some years prior to its release, they encountered a slight problem in their plans when The Insider (1999) was released which heavily featured the tobacco industry.
Hence in their wisdom, the writers took out the tobacco company and in place put in a major gun manufacturer in order to differentiate themselves from the Insider.
So here you might be thinking we are going to have a classic struggle between the money-hungry corporate suits vs the poor defenceless innocent widow.
Well it's not too far from the above, however there is a very clever twist which does sidetrack you from looking it from a good guy vs bad guy mentality.
The film opens up in an office block in New Orleans, showing Celeste Wood's husband being shot at point blank range along with a number of other work colleagues by a disgruntled former workmate.
The film then fast-forwards two years with a scene showing attorney Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) talking with Celeste and deciding to take up the case against the gun manufacturers on the basis that the gun manufactureers gross negligence led to the husband's death.
We are the introduced to jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman) who in typical Gene fashion, presents an intelligence, confident but on the wrong side of the moral conscience type of man with a fairly decent serve of arrogance..
The trial soon begins and preceeding that the jury selection process. It is then and there that Nicholas Easter (John Cusack) appears, coming across as a simple-minded electronic games clerk desperately seeking like any other average person, to get out of jury duty.
It is from this scene onwards that we see how Nicholas interacts with the other chosen Jury members. Whilst he comes across as your typcial 'average' man he is strangely proactice in having a point of reference with every jury member. This starts to make the audience think that perhaps all is not what it seems.
Then, just as though the director is actually sitting with you and getting your nod that you think there is something about this Nicholas character, we learn that he does in fact have a different motive which involves his girlfriend Marlee (Rachel Weisz).
We then begin to slowly put together why Nicholas' character is effectively working the other jury members. Him and Marlee and trying to sell the verdict to both Fitch and Rohr.
Whilst Nick and Marlee do try to sell the verdict to Rohr, you get the sense that the director wants you to focus on the relationship between Nick, Marlee and Fitch.
In fact the scene's that are shot with Rohr (not inside the court room) are in fact quite short and to the point, which gives you more time to explore the relationship between Nick, Fitch and Marlee.
Perhaps the reason why some of those scene's are short is because the director is wanting the audience to look at that relationship which we learn more and more of towards the end of the film
Towards the end of the trial, Fitch agrees to pay Nick and Marlee $15m for Nick to convince the other jury members to be in favour of the gun manufacturer. Meanwhile, prior to Fitch agreeing to wire the money he sent one of his hired guns to try and investigate Marlee.
It is just after Fitch wiring the $15m that it is revelead that Marlee had been friends with Nick in high school in a town called Gardner. It was at this school where there was a shooting in which one of their close friends was shot, thereby piecing together why Nick & Marlee are doing this.
Further to that, the town of Gardner then took the gun manufacturer to court but were unsuccessful. We then also learn that Fitch was involved in this case as well.
The audience are then left wondering as to why then are Nick & Marlee accepting $15m to influence the jury to decide in favour of the gun manufacturer.
The movie then jumps bakc to the jury room where we see Nick's true motive and how he works the other members of the jury. The jury then find the gun manufactuere liable with a large settlement decided on in favour of Celeste.
Of the $15m that they got from Fitch, the closing scene's show Nick & Marlee intending to given the money to their home town (Gardner) which was bankrupted as a result of the unsuccessful case a few years back.
All in all I would recommend this movie and give it 7 spiders out of 10!
Directed by Gary Fleder
Starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz
The film is based on the book titled, 'The Runaway Jury,' by John Grisham. Grisham's book is based around the battle between a large corporate heavyweight in the form of a fictional tobacco company and a recently widowed wife; husband prematurely dies because of the company's cigarettes.
Considering that the writers had been working on the script for some years prior to its release, they encountered a slight problem in their plans when The Insider (1999) was released which heavily featured the tobacco industry.
Hence in their wisdom, the writers took out the tobacco company and in place put in a major gun manufacturer in order to differentiate themselves from the Insider.
So here you might be thinking we are going to have a classic struggle between the money-hungry corporate suits vs the poor defenceless innocent widow.
Well it's not too far from the above, however there is a very clever twist which does sidetrack you from looking it from a good guy vs bad guy mentality.
The film opens up in an office block in New Orleans, showing Celeste Wood's husband being shot at point blank range along with a number of other work colleagues by a disgruntled former workmate.
The film then fast-forwards two years with a scene showing attorney Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) talking with Celeste and deciding to take up the case against the gun manufacturers on the basis that the gun manufactureers gross negligence led to the husband's death.
We are the introduced to jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman) who in typical Gene fashion, presents an intelligence, confident but on the wrong side of the moral conscience type of man with a fairly decent serve of arrogance..
The trial soon begins and preceeding that the jury selection process. It is then and there that Nicholas Easter (John Cusack) appears, coming across as a simple-minded electronic games clerk desperately seeking like any other average person, to get out of jury duty.
It is from this scene onwards that we see how Nicholas interacts with the other chosen Jury members. Whilst he comes across as your typcial 'average' man he is strangely proactice in having a point of reference with every jury member. This starts to make the audience think that perhaps all is not what it seems.
Then, just as though the director is actually sitting with you and getting your nod that you think there is something about this Nicholas character, we learn that he does in fact have a different motive which involves his girlfriend Marlee (Rachel Weisz).
We then begin to slowly put together why Nicholas' character is effectively working the other jury members. Him and Marlee and trying to sell the verdict to both Fitch and Rohr.
Whilst Nick and Marlee do try to sell the verdict to Rohr, you get the sense that the director wants you to focus on the relationship between Nick, Marlee and Fitch.
In fact the scene's that are shot with Rohr (not inside the court room) are in fact quite short and to the point, which gives you more time to explore the relationship between Nick, Fitch and Marlee.
Perhaps the reason why some of those scene's are short is because the director is wanting the audience to look at that relationship which we learn more and more of towards the end of the film
Towards the end of the trial, Fitch agrees to pay Nick and Marlee $15m for Nick to convince the other jury members to be in favour of the gun manufacturer. Meanwhile, prior to Fitch agreeing to wire the money he sent one of his hired guns to try and investigate Marlee.
It is just after Fitch wiring the $15m that it is revelead that Marlee had been friends with Nick in high school in a town called Gardner. It was at this school where there was a shooting in which one of their close friends was shot, thereby piecing together why Nick & Marlee are doing this.
Further to that, the town of Gardner then took the gun manufacturer to court but were unsuccessful. We then also learn that Fitch was involved in this case as well.
The audience are then left wondering as to why then are Nick & Marlee accepting $15m to influence the jury to decide in favour of the gun manufacturer.
The movie then jumps bakc to the jury room where we see Nick's true motive and how he works the other members of the jury. The jury then find the gun manufactuere liable with a large settlement decided on in favour of Celeste.
Of the $15m that they got from Fitch, the closing scene's show Nick & Marlee intending to given the money to their home town (Gardner) which was bankrupted as a result of the unsuccessful case a few years back.
All in all I would recommend this movie and give it 7 spiders out of 10!
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