Runaway Jury (2003)

A juror on the inside and a woman on the outside manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer.

Director:

Gary Fleder

Writers:

John Grisham (novel), Brian Koppelman (screenplay)

Stars:

John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Nicholas Easter
Gene Hackman	...	Rankin Fitch
Dustin Hoffman	...	Wendell Rohr
Rachel Weisz	...	Marlee
Bruce Davison	...	Durwood Cable
Bruce McGill	...	Judge Harkin
Jeremy Piven	...	Lawrence Green
Nick Searcy	...	Doyle
Stanley Anderson	...	Henry Jankle
Cliff Curtis	...	Frank Herrera
Nestor Serrano	...	Janovich
Leland Orser	...	Lamb
Jennifer Beals	...	Vanessa Lembeck
Gerry Bamman	...	Herman Grimes
Joanna Going	...	Celeste Wood

Storyline

Wendell Rohr is a torts lawyer taking on the gun lobby. Rankin Fitch is the jury consultant for the Defendants and between them the battle is for the hearts and minds of the jury. But there is someone on the inside. Nicholas Easter is a juror with a girlfriend, Marlee, on the outside. they have a past ..... and their own agenda.

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Plot Keywords:

voir dire | watching tv | french | french quarter new orleans | strong female lead | 

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Taglines:

Trials are too important to be decided by juries.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, language and thematic elements

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Italian

Release Date:

17 October 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le maître du jeu

Filming Locations:

Louisiana Supreme Court, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,836,705, 19 October 2003

Gross USA:

$49,443,628

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$80,154,140

Company Credits

Production Co:

Regency Enterprises, New Regency Pictures, Epsilon Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Naomi Watts was offered the role of Marlee, but turned it due to scheduling conflicts.

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Goofs

When Fitch is viewing a video of Nick, we see it paused with embedded timecode paused along with the video. the last two numbers (:39) indicate the frames, not seconds (you can tell this by the speed at which the numbers run and the fact the "tens" number never passes 3) when in play mode. Frame rates for NTSC (north American video) is 30 frames per second, anywhere else in the world it varies, mostly at 25 frames/sec in most of Europe, but no video is more than 30 frames/sec.

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Quotes

Nicholas Easter: So, what? I'm supposed to convince you that I have them, right?
Rankin Fitch: Oh, I think you've probably got them, or-or you will have. I just wanna' know why.
Nicholas Easter: Money.
Rankin Fitch: Safer ways for a sharp kid like you to make money. What's the real reason?
Nicholas Easter: Business, politics, sports... you tell me what *isn't* rigged? I mean, is there even such a thing as an objective jury, Mr. Fitch?
Rankin Fitch: [chuckles] Not if I can help it.
Nicholas Easter: Then why should all the lawyers and guys like you make all the profit?
Rankin Fitch: You don't have much faith in the Law...
Nicholas Easter:
Rankin Fitch: [...]

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Connections

References Adventures of Superman (1952)

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Soundtracks

A Bitter Tree
Written and Performed by David Baerwald
Courtesy of A&M Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Am I allowed to review this, having not read the novel?

I've read many times about how John Grisham's novel was about the tobacco industry, not a gun manufacturer. Still, "Runaway Jury" does do a good job with its material. Nick Easter (John Cusack) is the squeaky clean member of a jury determining a gun-death trial in New Orleans. Some special interests are trying to manipulate the jury, but Nick isn't about to let that happen.

A major part of this movie is that Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman co-star at long last. Their conversation is sort of like the one between Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in "Heat", although slightly more laid back. All in all, the movie comes out pretty well, with great performances from all cast members. Who ever would have imagined "Animal House"'s D-Day playing a judge?