By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * *)
John Grisham writes a book about a woman who sues Big Tobacco when her husband dies of lung cancer. Hollywood films it as a story about a widow who takes a gun company to court in an effort to prove it was responsible for her
husband's murder. Product displacement, huh?
Runaway Jury should be a significant movie. It is the first time that the wonderful Gene Hackman and the incomparable Dustin Hoffman have appeared on screen together. Not only that, John Cusack and Rachel Weisz head the supporting cast.
Hackman plays Rankin Fitch, the "jury consultant" hired by the gun companies to assess the jurors and make sure they win the case. Hoffman plays Wendell Rohr, the high-minded lawyer for the widow, who knows the importance of vetting the jury but can only afford a less skilled consultant, Lawrence Green (Jeremy Piven).
Both parties are thrown off-guard when Marlee (Rachel Weisz) tells them the jury's verdict is up for grabs. She has an in with a juror, Nicholas Easter (Cusack), and the pair will deliver the right verdict to whichever party can pay up.
Lots of extras on the DVD, delivered in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) with 5.1 Dolby Surround. There are commentaries from director Gary Fleder, who also talks us through two deleted scenes, and from the two H's. They discuss their views of the project in a couple of off-the-cuff conversations, before the usual craft documentaries featuring the ensemble cast, cinematographers, designers and editors.
DVD, video rental April 7
