Reversal of Fortune (1990)

Wealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.

Director:

Barbet Schroeder

Writers:

Alan M. Dershowitz (book), Nicholas Kazan (screenplay)

Stars:

Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, Ron Silver

Won 1 Oscar. Another 13 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Glenn Close	...	Sunny von Bülow / Narrator
Jeremy Irons	...	Claus von Bülow
Ron Silver	...	Professor Alan Dershowitz
Annabella Sciorra	...	Sarah
Uta Hagen	...	Maria, Sunny's Personal Maid
Fisher Stevens	...	David Marriott
Jack Gilpin	...	Peter MacIntosh, Dershowitz's Student Staff
Christine Baranski	...	Andrea Reynolds, Claus' Girlfriend
Stephen Mailer	...	Elon Dershowitz
Christine Dunford	...	Ellen
Felicity Huffman	...	Minnie, Dershowitz's Student Staff
Mano Singh	...	Raj, Dershowitz's Student Staff
Johann Carlo	...	Nancy
Keith Reddin	...	Dobbs, Dershowitz's Student Staff
Alan Pottinger	...	Chuck, Dershowitz's Student Staff

Storyline

Alan Dershowitz a brilliant professor of law is hired by wealthy socialite Claus von Bulow to attempt to overturn his two convictions for attempted murder of his extremely wealthy wife. Based on a true story the film concentrates not on the trial like other legal thrillers, but on the preparatory work that Dershowitz and his students put in as they attempt to disprove the prosecution's case and achieve the Reversal of Fortune of the title.

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Plot Keywords:

attempted murder | insulin | law | coma | backgammon | 

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Taglines:

The Case of Claus Von Bulow. An American Saga of Money and Mystery.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA Japan UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

El misterio Von Bulow

Filming Locations:

Lyndhurst Estate, Tarrytown, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$15,445,131 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sovereign Pictures, Reversal Films Inc., Shochiku-Fuji Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to casting director Howard Feuer, Glenn Close was paid "an outrageous fortune" for three weeks' work as the leading lady. And while leads Jeremy Irons and Ron Silver were paid quite handsomely, supporting players Julie Hagerty, Fisher Stevens and Uta Hagen had to settle for scale plus 10.

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Goofs

'Claus von Bulow' abruptly switches his eating hand in the restaurant.

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Quotes

Sarah: I think it's easier to love somebody than to live with them. Love is fantasy - living is work.
Alan Dershowitz: I'll say. And *those* people don't like to work.
Sarah: But if you don't do the work, the love dies and nobody wants to deal with that one.

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Connections

Referenced in Totally F***ed Up (1993)

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Soundtracks

"SONATA IN A MAJOR"
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Arranged by Charlotte Georg (as Lee Ashley)
Courtesy of Ole Georg/Group Pro, Inc.

User Reviews

Fascinating character studies

Striking, if sometimes creepy, performances by Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons highlight this unevenly directed take on the Claus Von Bulow story of the degenerate rich adapted from the book by Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz, who loves being in the limelight almost as much as he loves the law, took on the task of saving Claus Von Bulow from prison for the attempted murder of his rich wife initially as a means of raising money to help him in his pro bono cases. The rather heavy-handed manner in which we are advised of this should not detract from Dershowitz's work. The irony is that as the case developed Dershowitz became persuaded that Claus was innocent.

Whether Dershowitz convinced himself of Von Bulow's innocence to assuage a possibly guilty conscience is a good question. Remember Dershowitz is the guy who said after the O.J. Simpson trial (he was one of Simpson's lawyers) that he didn't know whether Simpson was guilty or not. While that may be a good stance for a defense attorney, it is an insincere one for the public figure that Dershowitz has become.

Starring as Dershowitz is Ron Silver in an uneven performance that at times made me think of Gabe Kaplan doing a young and uncomedic Groucho Marx. I wonder if Dershowitz was entirely flattered.

Director Barbet Schroeder (Barfly 1987; Single White Female 1992) uses several points of view to tell the story, including a voice-over from Glenn Close's Sunny Von Bulow as she lies comatose, but also from recollections by Jeremy Irons' Claus Von Bulow. We see some scenes twice, colored by the differing points of view. This technique is entirely appropriate since what really happened is far from clear to this day. It is Claus Von Bulow's fortune that was reversed. Whether the first two juries or the third were right is something Schroeder leaves for the audience to determine.

But make no mistake about it: the heart of the movie is Jeremy Irons' Oscar-winning performance. His subtle artistry based on a deep conception (true to life or not) of the aristocratic and Germanic Claus allowed him to create a persona that is cold and aloft, yet somehow sympathetic. The contrast with Silver's Brooklyn-born hyper-energetic Dershowitz made for some good cinematic chemistry, although sometimes it came across like nice Jewish boy defends a vampire.

Glenn Close's flawless rendition of the idle, drug-befouled Sunny reminds us once again that she is a great actress. Unfortunately I don't think Schroeder spent as much time and energy as he should have with the people who played Dershowitz's law students. They seemed amateurish and unconvincing in just about every scene. And there were too many of them--law students, that is. Some distillation of intent, and more directorial guidance might have helped.

Nicholas Kazan's script has a number of good lines in it, not the least of which is this: Dershowitz: "You are a very strange man." Claus Von Bulow: "You have no idea." Also nice was Von Bulow's observation after they are seated in the restaurant and after the waiter has called him "Doctor" Von Bulow: "When I was married to Sunny, we never got this table. Now, two injections of insulin and I'm a doctor." Indeed it is partly Kazan's snappy, comedic and self-revelatory lines that humanize Claus Von Bulow's character and persuade us that he could very well be innocent.

While I like Dershowitz's self-serving style and his confidence, what I admire most about the man is his realistic conception of the defense attorney's role in our society and his idea of what makes a good lawyer; that is, a good lawyer is one who recognizes not only that every person deserves the best defense their resources allow, but that he himself deserves to defend those with the best resources.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)