IMDb > Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Reversal of Fortune
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Reversal of Fortune (1990) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 2)
Reversal of Fortune (1990) -- Wealthy Sunny von B�low lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.
Reversal of Fortune (1990) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   4,690 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 16% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Alan M. Dershowitz (book)
Nicholas Kazan (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Reversal of Fortune on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
October 1990 (USA) more
Genre:
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
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 9 wins & 8 nominations more
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)

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
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:
111 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

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. more
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. more
Quotes:
Claus von Bülow: How - ah, my prawns - how do you define a fear of insulin?
[silence]
Claus von Bülow: Claus-traphobia.
more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
THE MERCENARIES more

FAQ

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14 out of 15 people found the following comment useful.
Fascinating character studies, 23 July 2003

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.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Klaus Didn't Do It!! sanctifiedminister
Cigarettes Jazztiger
Klaus Remanded? jeffy2284-1
What happened with Dershowitz's other case? wcspiderfan
Lawyers cant do anything if they have to get out from under their desks! hannahp1
Glenn Close henry175
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