A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Runaway Jury

Date of original theatrical release: 2003

Details:

John Cusack (Nicholas Easter)

Gene Hackman (Rankin Fitch)

Dustin Hoffman (Wendell Rohr)

Rachel Weisz (Marlee)

Jennifer Beals (Vanessa Lembeck)

Director: Gary Fleder

Score: +

The Review: A contemporary approach to what goes on behind the jury-room door, spun up by the nature of the crime (multiple murder by assault weapon) and the defendant (the gun manufacturer). Derived in some measure from the novel by John Grisham, it illustrates two parallel attempts to "fix" the same jury's deliberations -- one highly professional (Hackman), one seemingly ad hoc (Cusack and Weisz), both decidedly illegal. The morality of the situation is not so clear, however, and it is the developing revelations and background that add to the tension of this legal thriller.

This is the first face-to-face pairing of Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman, and in those few scenes where they appear together and interact, the wait was well worth it. (Similar, in that sense, to the long-awaited pairing of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Heat.)

(9-Jul-05)

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