Jury Duty (1995)

Jobless loser Tommy Collins is sequestered to be a juror in a serial killer trial. He does everything he can to prolong the trial and deliberations to take full advantage of the free lodging and food.

Director:

John Fortenberry

Writers:

Barbara Williams (story), Samantha Adams (story)

Stars:

Pauly Shore, Tia Carrere, Stanley Tucci

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pauly Shore	...	Tommy Collins
Tia Carrere	...	Monica
Stanley Tucci	...	Frank
Brian Doyle-Murray	...	Harry
Abe Vigoda	...	Judge Powell
Charles Napier	...	Jed
Richard Edson	...	Skeets
Richard Riehle	...	Principal Beasely
Alex Datcher	...	Sarah
Richard T. Jones	...	Nathan
Sharon Barr	...	Libby Starling
Jack McGee	...	Murphy
Nick Bakay	...	Richard Hertz
Ernie Lee Banks	...	Ray
Shelley Winters	...	Mom

Storyline

When jobless Tommy Collins discovers that sequestered jurors earn free room and board as well as $5-a-day, he gets himself assigned to a jury in a murder trial. Once there, he does everything he can to prolong the trial and deliberations and make the sequestration more comfortable for himself.

---

Plot Keywords:

jury | dog | court | hotel | mother son relationship | 

---

Taglines:

For truth. For justice. For five bucks a day.

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude sex-related humor

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character Tom[my] Collins is named after the mixed drink of the same name.

---

Goofs

Near the end of the film, Frank prepares to stab Monica but shoves the knife into the ceiling, releasing a pile of white asbestos dust all over himself. A moment later he falls from the balcony but when we see him on the ground, there is no powder on him at all. Then a close up shot shows him spitting powder from his mouth, and there is some on his head.

---

Quotes

Tommy Collins: If a small taco is a taquito, then a small judge... must be a Judge Ito!

---

Connections

References Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

---

Soundtracks

I Want You
Written by Nikolaj Steen
Performed by Nikolaj Steen
Courtesy of The Imago Recording Company

User Reviews

Ain't nothing' sweeter than a catfish doing a backstroke at the shallow end of the kiddie pool.

There is a scene early on in "Jury Duty" when Pauly Shore stands on a bus and imitates a town tour guide. It is obvious that this scene was written to showcase Pauly Shore's comedic talents, however, he makes noises and is loud and generally obnoxious and unfunny.

"Jury Duty" is the point where Pauly Shore officially abused his stay in movies. After this movie, he would forever be sanctioned to the lunch table in the corner with the smelly kid, Carrot Top and the Noid from the Dominoes commercials. But not until he showed the world his versatility in Bio-Dome.

Jury Duty is bad. Not bad like "In the Army Now," but close. There is little originality to the script, no amusing characters and about four funny lines. I did enjoy the scene where the witnesses from restaurants give testimonies in their respective fast food uniforms. There isn't much else here. It just isn't funny.

Shore also lacks the wit his idiotic leading men contemporaries like Adam Sandler and Chris Farley showed in the 90s. These were all, more or less, bad versions of Steve Martin's wonderful "Jerk" character. All Shore shows in this movie is that he has the talent to bug you.

Of course, not all the blame can be put on his shoulders. He has no script to work with. Nothing. I don't know why Stanley Tucci thought this movie would be good for him and or how the studio blackmailed him into being in it.

I remembered both "Encino Man" and "Son in Law" were kind of funny in a stupid way. "Jury Duty " on the other hand is stupid in a very unfunny way.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 April 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jury Duty

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,831,622, 16 April 1995

Gross USA:

$17,014,653

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$17,014,653

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Triumph Films, Weasel Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1