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A 20th Century Fox release. Written by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Rick Cleveland and Matthew Chapman; directed by Gary Fleder; starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz. Released to DVD on February 17, 2004.  Runaway Jury is lawyer cum author John Grisham's eighth book to have been turned into a movie. And it will not disappoint fans of his in any way as virtually nothing has been changed from Grisham's every-so-successful formula at the heart of all his previous work. Namely that is: an idealistic young man who is trying to make a difference in the world becomes involved in a trial featuring a very sympathetic plaintiff and opposition from a massive (and, read-between-the-lines, evil) multi-national corporation. If there is any difference at all from Grisham's other work, it comes with the fact that the idealistic young man at the forefront of Runaway Jury, Nick Easter (John Cusack), is a member of the jury, and not an attorney. As is the case in most of Grisham's other projects, the film pits a traditional, morally upstanding, financially challenged lawyer, Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) against the merciless sharks on the side of the defense. The worst of the defense team is Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman), a man who's very name is contemptuous and sinister. Fitch delights in spying on jurors and the plaintiff's lawyers alike. No action too subversive or illegal for Fitch's taste, it's about winning. And when Easter and his confident, Marlee (Rachel Weisz), present the two lawyers with a deal--$10 million and Easter will swing the vote to whomever pays first--Fitch is quite tempted. So is Rohr. Strangely, there isn't much high drama in Runaway Jury. There are no edge-of-your-seat moments, nor are there any chase scenes or explosions. Most surprisingly though is the fact that there isn't much courtroom drama. The majority of screen time is devoted to actions taking place outside of the court house; it's hard to intimidate a jury while the trial is in progress, you know.  There are a lot of major characters in Runaway Jury and director Gary Fleder makes a concerted effort to give each a cogent backstory. This may sound good at first, but it doesn't take long to realize that this choice has a negative side as well: this means that no characters have any real sense of depth to them. Fortunately, Fleder cast the film impeccably. It's next to impossible to think of a better well-educated American villain than Hackman (who perfected this in two previous Grisham adaptations, The Firm and The Chamber), a better middle-aged man in a cheap suit than Hoffman and a better female confidence operator than Weisz. Fleder's crowning achievement didn't come with any of those casting moves however, it came with the decision to bring Cusack in to play the role of Nick Easter. Hollywood's lovable everyman, Cusack commands audience empathy in his films and Runaway Jury is no exception. Instantly capturing the audience's trust, regardless of whether his character deserves it or not, it is Cusack's solid and beguiling lead performance that keeps Runaway Jury from ever truly falling apart. There aren't many, if any surprises in Fleder's film, but there aren't supposed to be. Runaway Jury is a simple movie with a simple plan for its audience: it pairs the good guys against the bad guys and hopes that the two-hour brawl will be enough to entertain viewers. There isn't much depth, there isn't much action and the character's motivations don't become apparent until the final fifteen minutes of the film, but this makes Runaway Jury that much easier to watch and digest (and forget). This is The Italian Job of courtroom dramas.
chris neumer yes, it's true: Gene Hackman spent three years in the Marines while in his teenage years. |
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