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, Wide Release

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

Gene Hackman's line, "and this man doesn't give a single, solitary droplet of shit about truth, justice, or your American way." "Truth, justice, and the American way" is a line from Superman (1978). Gene Hackman starred in Superman (1978).

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Goofs

After the anti-gun juror goes on his tirade, Nick Easter makes a joke. In reality, a tirade like that could actually force the judge to dismiss the entire prospective pool, because the pool would then be considered tainted since they witnessed the tirade.

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Quotes

Wendell Rohr: Is that why you're doing this? To protect the constitution, is that it?
Rankin Fitch: Of course not. I'm in it to win.
Wendell Rohr: Oh.
Rankin Fitch: Just like you are.
Wendell Rohr: Yeah.
Rankin Fitch: Because that's what I was hired to do.
Wendell Rohr: Uh huh.
Rankin Fitch: Everything else is colored bubbles.
Wendell Rohr: Colored bubbles! Colored bubbles? A system that calls for twelve people to sit and listen to testimony of witnesses, fella, and that includes my witness, who you've disappeared!
Rankin Fitch: If you're relying on testimony to win this case, you've already lost it.

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Connections

Referenced in Fear of Clowns (2004)

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Soundtracks

It's Your Thing
Written by O'Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley
Performed by The Isley Brothers
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Flimsy yet well acted.

Well acted yet flimsy adaptation of the John Grisham novel lacks a well rounded script to carry itself but has an amazing cast that lifts this mediocre film past its problems and into respectability. The script has way too many loop holes in logic to even take what you are seeing seriously and the directing lacks a sharp narrative to get across what it's trying to say. The acting is the only major thing that this film excels on and with out it, this would have been a cable movie of the week at best. Gene Hackman is great as a jury consultant who would stop at nothing to win a case and Rachel Weisz is amazing as his adversary in and out of the courtroom. Dustin Hoffman is great as well but he is not in the movie as much as advertise and John Cusack is decent for the role he has. The biggest fault the movie does have is the fact that certain plot points disappear during the course of the film as well as characters. It's a great way to spend two hours of your time, especially with the great performances of Gene Hackman and Rachel Weisz to keep you glued to what is happening but the movie has a lot of glaring problems that makes it hard to sit though in certain parts.