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Runaway Jury (2003) More at IMDbPro »

Outrageous exaggeration to make a point, but nonetheless a thrilling movie, 20 January 2004

Author: Chris Docker (eyeforfilm) from Scotland, United Kingdom

So much happens in the opening credits of Runaway Jury that attention has to be riveted from the start – a sudden mass murder, a string of interesting and fully-fledged characters played by well-known stars, interwoven story lines, a time lapse of a couple of years – all before we get into the main part of the film.

Yet another adaptation from the successful pen of John Grisham, Runaway Jury packs so much and is a great film – the saddest thing probably being that it is not the greatest film of the year which I sensed it could have been. The main premise, high powered jury consultants that can affect the outcome of a trial, is rammed down our throats from the start with demonstrations of psychological manipulation and legal shenanigans that beggar belief – if more time had been spent building these aspects of the story up in a more believable fashion a stronger statement could have been made. But statements it makes, with a moral righteousness that taxes the consummate skills of Dustin Hoffman, John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman, and several other stars. It reminded me of those monster movies that start with a big monster, as if to say, `skip the build up to suspension of disbelief, just take it as read that the big plasticky thing with ten legs and lots and lots of teeth is real, then we can get on with the story.' The monsters here are bad guy Hackman and his CIA-style organisation that knows the weakness of every juror with such hi-tech precision and depth psychology that it verges on mindreading, and a system that is so lacking in any moral fibre that legal procedures connected to fair trial can be bypassed like someone with a houdini kit getting out of a lead box at the bottom of the ocean and still arriving for dinner without a hair out of place.

Having dealt with that though, Runaway Jury is a first class thriller, and Dustin Hoffman gives such a convincing performance as the lawyer fighting gun manufacturers that you wish he would take a job as a barrister – or at least run for senator. The show-down between him and Hackman in the mens' room positively blisters with pent-up acting skill. Cusack and Weiss, as a jack-in-the-box team that upset the apple-cart bring exciting new elements to a plot that never loses speed for a whole two hours. One only wishes that if they had had more time, money and inclination to make a serious movie, there might have been a film with greater human depth than corporate bad guys versus conscience-stricken good guys, but don't let that put you off seeing it.

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