It has been a few years since the '90s flurry of John Grisham adaptations ended quietly with the less-than-stellar likes of \The Chamber"" and ""The Rainmaker."" Now, after six years in the making and numerous drafts of the screenplay (one version by Grisham himself), arrives the thriller ""Runaway Jury.""
In a quick and effective opening sequence, a disgruntled employee shoots his way through a law office, killing 11 people. The movie shifts to a scene two years later, introducing us to Nicholas Easter (John Cusack). He receives a jury summon in the mail. The wife of one of the men killed in the office is suing the gun company that manufactured the weapon used by the perpetrator. So begins the movie's entry into the sleazy, high-stakes world of corporate legal wrangling.
Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman) waltzes into town with smug bravado to help the gun company look over possible jurors. He heads a ""dirty tricks"" force that digs up secrets on the potential jurors and puts them under 24-hour surveillance. He says at one point, ""Trials are too important to be left to the jury."" Dustin Hoffman plays Wendell Rohr, the idealistic lawyer who is defending the wife of the deceased.
The jury gets whittled down to a colorful and diverse cast of characters including Luis Guzman, Jennifer Beals and Nora Dunn. Once the trial gets underway, both sides are thrown an unexpected curveball when an anonymous woman (Rachel Weisz) calls, saying she can influence the votes of the jury and affect the outcome of the trial. For a price, that is.
""Runaway Jury"" is standard Grisham fare given a slick Hollywood treatment. There has been a lot of press about the fact that it is Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman's first movie together, even though they only share one scene. It is a good one, but this feels like a missed opportunity.
Despite all this, ""Runaway Jury"" manages to deliver some exciting action sequences and Cusack gives a wonderful, understated performance that anchors the movie. Although ""Runaway Jury"" offers nothing new, it is the combination of Hackman, Hoffman and Cusack that makes it worth seeing.
