Runaway Jury
Directed by: Gary Fleder
Starring: John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman
Rated: PG-13 for violence, language and thematic elements.
Parental Notes: This is a standard Grisham thriller, appropriate for all teens and mature pre-teens. The violence is not particularly gory but youngsters may find it a bit intense.
John Grisham is a solid provider of legal thrillers, both novels and film adaptations. “Runaway Jury” is standard Grisham fare: good versus evil done up with panache, down-home bravery, and a genuine affection for idealism. If “Runaway Jury” has the occasional plot hole it makes up for it by entertaining us with deceptively straightforward characters and a heavy sprinkling of plot twists.
When a young Louisiana businessman (Dylan McDermott) is gunned down during an office massacre, his widow hires Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) to sue the gun manufacturer. The lawyer for the defense, Durwood Cable (Bruce Davison), hires notoriously successful jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman). Fitch uses any means necessary to select a jury guaranteed to decide in favor of his client; if the jury wavers in their duty, he digs up blackmail material and forces them to vote his way.
What makes this confrontation interesting is the addition of a wild card: young Nicholas Easter (John Cusack), who plans to swing the jury from the inside with his girlfriend Marly (Rachel Weisz) acting as a sales rep on the outside. Their plan: sell the jury to the highest bidder. Rohr is a passionate and idealistic old hound of a lawyer. Fitch is unscrupulous and determined to win. The question appears to be which side will cave first and pay Nick and Marly for the verdict.
These are not terribly complex characters, for the most part. Nick and Marly have a bit more up their sleeves than is immediately apparent, but not much. “Runaway Jury” is quasi-melodramatic entertainment, not a character study. Although the parts are not particularly challenging, Hackman, Cusack, Hoffman, and Weisz all handle their roles with conviction and style.
Hackman in particular relishes the nastiness oozing from Fitch’s pores, and it’s a pleasure to see slimy Fitch square off against idealistic, optimistic Rohr. In the closest thing to a multi-layered performance the film has, Hoffman lets us see Rohr’s sharpness behind his laid-back goodguy fa�ade. Cusack turns his self-effacing charm loose and makes it believable that Nick can manipulate the jury into doing exactly what he wants them to.
Weisz is lucky enough to have that role all too rare in a Hollywood movie: a strong, attractive, believable woman. Marly can kick butt and take names, and does so without hesitation even when she’s clearly frightened. She has reason to be frightened, too; Fitch’s henchmen don’t play nice, and once the jury has been sequestered, she’s the one they can get at, not Nick. Weisz handles the espionage side of her part with the same intensity as her stunts, and it’s a pleasure to see a woman in a movie who can handle herself in a fight against a thug without Hong Kong style wirework or implants jiggling in a too-tight shirt.
This is a polished, workmanlike thriller. It’s silly in spots and there are a handful of weak points in the plot which cause it to unravel if thought about too much. However, “Runaway Jury” isn’t trying to be “Citizen Kane.” It’s a fun way to spend a couple of hours if you like Grisham’s legal thrillers. Those in search of explosions, character development, or insightful social commentary would be better served elsewhere.