Review of Runaway Jury (2003) by Steven B — 20 Jun 2009

For a John Grisham novel adaptation that didn't generate a lot of fanfare at the time of its release, Runaway Jury was about what I expected. It was very engaging and enjoyable enough, but it didn't have that extra push to debate the moral issues of gun control to the limit. It debated the issue a fair amount, but there was something about the story that let the air out of that issue part of the story. Perhaps it was that the gun control debate was secondary to the con-game and jury tampering storyline. Having these two themes side by side probably worked very well in the novel, but in a movie each of them detracts from the other just enough to take a few points off. But that's okay, not all movies have to be Oscar-winners. I thought that the jury deliberation at the climax of the film was to short to be completely believable and effective. I don't think Gary Fleder (Don't Say a Word, Kiss the GIrls) is that great of a director, but this might be the most tolerable of the films of his that I've seen.

I think Runaway Jury is still definitely worth renting if you like Grisham style law thrillers. It's also worth it for the acting. It's an ensemble cast with many recognizable character actors on the jury and in the plaintiff's and defendant's teams. The four actors who share a majority of the screen time are Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, John Cusack, and Rachel Weisz. I rented the movie to see Weisz and Cusack, but I should have known that Hackman and Hoffman would turn out to outshine them as the real stars. In fact they share one scene together, a heated courthouse bathroom discussion, which alone is worth the rental price.

The DVD also has a few neat extras on Hackman and Hoffman, one where they discuss the making of that bathroom scene, one where they talk about their younger days together in acting school and living in New York (they are old friends but this was their first film opposite each other), and they each give a one-scene commentary alone.