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Reversal of Fortune (1990)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Release Date:
October 1990 (USA)
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Tagline:
The Case of Claus Von Bulow. An American Saga of Money and Mystery.
Plot:
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. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Attempted Murder
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Law
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Courtroom
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Law Student
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Bad Guy
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Awards:
Won Oscar.
Another 9 wins
&
8 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
Veterans of Cancelled TV Shows That We Lost in March 2009
(From TVSeriesFinale. 4 April 2009, 11:15 AM, PDT)
Ron Silver Dies Aged 62
(From EmpireOnline. 16 March 2009, 12:19 AM, PDT)
(From TVSeriesFinale. 4 April 2009, 11:15 AM, PDT)
Ron Silver Dies Aged 62
(From EmpireOnline. 16 March 2009, 12:19 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Fascinating character studies
more (40 total)
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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
111 min
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Norway:10 |
Brazil:18 |
Iceland:L |
South Korea:15 |
Philippines:R-18 |
Argentina:13 |
Australia:M |
Canada:PG |
Chile:14 |
Finland:S |
Sweden:11 |
UK:15 |
USA:R |
Germany:12 (w) (f) |
Singapore:PG
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Martha "Sunny" von Bulow, who spent the last 28 years of her life in a coma after what prosecutors alleged in a pair of sensational trials were two murder attempts by her husband, died December 6, 2008 at age 76.
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Goofs:
Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the opening shot flying over the estates in Newport, visitors can be seen at some of the mansions. As the film is set in 1983, some of the mansions would have been open to the public like The Breakers or Marble House.
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Quotes:
Claus von Bülow:
How - ah, my prawns - how do you define a fear of insulin?
[silence]
Claus von Bülow: Claus-traphobia.
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[silence]
Claus von Bülow: Claus-traphobia.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Gossip Girl: Reversals of Fortune (#3.1)" (2009)
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Soundtrack:
THE MERCENARIES
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (40 total)
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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.