Runaway Jury

With a cast this strong, this should be so much better. However, it remains an entertaining if forgettable courtroom drama, pretty much in keeping with every adaptation of a Grisham novel. The films moves briskly and the message of the film is well meaning wish fulfilment, but the plot is thin and contrived and stretches credibility to breaking point. Hackman and Hoffman are always watchable however, and both Cusack and Weisz do well to flesh out rather dull characters whose predictable motivation is revealed near the end.

Man, I haven't watched this since it was in theaters, and I forgot what a great ride it is; Grisham adaptions always were. While the switch from Big Tobacco in the novel to the firearms industry may have been a little too on-the-nose for current events in 2003 which ruffled a lot of feathers at the time, this still *really* works because both industries have historically dominated in civil cases.*But* it being against the firearms industry in the movie really isn't the focus of the it at all; it's about the moral and ethical conundrums of trying to rig a jury in either direction. It works so well because of the cast; can't really go wrong with Hackman and Hoffman going toe-to-toe or Cusack and Weisz going toe-to-toe with Gene Hackman. Yeah, it gets into the realm of fantasy revenge porn what with [spoiler]Nick and Marlee getting $15 million on top of Fitch getting badly outplayed,[/spoiler] but it's still a fun ride. If you're a fan of any of the many *other* Grisham adaptations, this one probably won't disappoint you.