Runaway Jury (2003)

April 19, 2024 10:29 AM

When the widow of a mass shooting victim sues the gun manufacturer for negligence, her principled attorney Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) must contend with interference from the notorious Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman), a ruthless jury consultant who will do anything to secure a favorable verdict for his industry backers. But their David vs. Goliath battle is scrambled when reluctant juror Nick Easter (John Cusack) turns out to be a savvy manipulator working with accomplice Marlee (Rachel Weisz) to sway the jury to the highest bidder. Their gambit infuriates Fitch and puts Rohr's ideals to the test -- but what is the duo's real agenda?

Original trailer

Based on John Grisham's 1996 novel The Runaway Jury, this entertaining and fast-paced legal thriller is a fun ride but admittedly rather implausible -- though perhaps a bit less so now than it was when it first released.

Rotten Tomatoes: 73% critics / 75% audience

Metacritic: 61 critics / 8.6 audience

Cinemascore: A-

posted by Rhaomi (5 comments total)

Available for streaming free on Plex
posted by Rhaomi at 10:31 AM on April 19

It's worth noting that in the original novel, the case was against the tobacco industry, because at the time of its writing, that was the supposed "invincible" industry in the courts. By the time the movie was in development, however, the Altria lawsuit had been concluded with the company losing, hence the shift to the gun industry.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:52 AM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Man, I miss the days when John Cusack was in halfway decent movies.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:27 PM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Man, I miss the days when John Cusack was in halfway decent movies.

I don't know, I feel like there is an alternate universe somewhere that has Cusack fully commit to his weirdness and we get some real wild stuff from him.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:16 AM on April 20

I feel like there is an alternate universe somewhere that has Cusack fully commit to his weirdness and we get some real wild stuff from him.

Oh, yeah, that's what I want. These days all he's been doing is awful direct-to-video action shit.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:11 AM on April 20