Runaway Jury

Reviewed by John Gibbon

     If Hollywood was put on trial for mishandling film adaptations of the best selling legal thrillers of John Grisham, the trial could open with an opening argument that Stephen King and John Grisham tend to share a common bond. They write great books and then Hollywood turns them into utter drivel.

     However, in it’s defense Hollywood could point to the new adaptation of Grisham’s 1996 thriller Runaway Jury, an exciting and stylishly smart example of good moviemaking. With the help of four writers, the plot’s been updated to expose a more timely issue concerning Second Amendment rights. They’ve replaced the book’s bad tobacco company with an even badder firearms company being sued by a grieving widow in what could result in a monumental verdict.

     Not since The Firm (1993) has a Grisham adaptation been better cast. Dylan McDermott appears early in the film as a nice family man gunned down in his office along with his fellow employees. Enter Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman), one shady jury consultant bent on protecting his client’s interests, in this case the gun manufacturer, by any means necessary, even if it’s by exposing the vulnerabilities of potential jurors. With an army of snoops and operatives, Fitch stacks his juries through lying, stealing and cheating. Hackman chews up the most delectable dialogue given him with acidic gusto and charm, making Fitch a likeable bad guy. Although he represents the gun manufacturer, Fitch is a champ who delivers cold wit about everyone and their faults and makes it brilliantly entertaining. On his own, Hackman could carry this movie but Dustin Hoffman contributes an equally strong performance as Wendell Rohr, the loveable everyman attorney for McDermott's widow who slyly holds an ace or two up his own sleeve.

     The mounting evidence would definitely support that Runaway Jury is an engrossing film. Director Gary Fleder establishes an intense pace, a snappy energy that signifies good entertainment. Felder is no novice to crime drama (Kiss the Girls (1997), Don’t Say A Word (2001)) and doesn’t slack on thrills. There is a fair share of twists and turns mixed with swift intrigue. John Cusack plays his character with the same determination and grit her delivered in The Grifters (1990). As a juror with his own agenda for swaying the jury, he is assisted by Rachel Weisz. The duo tries to beat Hackman’s Fitch at his own game. Cusack and Weisz are both charming and sinister, but share an intelligence that rivals Hackman and Hoffman.

     Unfortunately, there is only one confrontational scene between Hackman and Hoffman. Fleder uses it to showcase ruthlessness with pinstripe suit class and charismatic efficiency while Hoffman counteracts with determined sincerity and exits in heroic fashion.

     There are some cold facts that work against the film. Jeremy Piven is a smooth-talking jury consultant who makes his way onto Rohr’s team early in the film, only to be relegated to the background. Nora Dunn appears as a juror who likes a nip or two on the sly, but her comic quality is underused.

     The final verdict though is that Fleder has delivered an engaging film, complete with moral victory. Runaway Jury is truly about something and can be viewed with interest. Grisham can become a Hollywood name again. The defense rests.