Runaway Jury

Two and One Half Stars
John Cusack, Rachael Wiess, Gene Hackman

This is definately John Grisham material. The plot line is innovative, charecters are engaging and the suspense is genuine. It's easy to see why the novel upon which the moive is based is so well liked. Unfortunatly all of this worthwhile material was tainted when the producers could not pass up the opportunity to forward thier political agenda. In the novel, a Jury is selected in a trial to judge "Big Tobacco" comapanies. The producers walk away from this story line and expose thier anti-gun opinions by setting up a trial where a gun maufacturer is held liable for a man's death by a shooter using one of thier products.

In real-life this scenario is ascenine and has been played out in the courts. However it seems that sour grapes prevail in hollywood and the topic is brought out again without the benifit of a balanced debate. The only bright spot in this anit-gun platform is a bir of irony that comes when a juror asks rethorically if convicting McDonals for making you fat was the next step. Of course the script and production was in the bag by the time the McDonalds suits were in the forefront of the news.

Basically the message I got from the studio was: "Ignore the outstanding cast, ignore the brilliat concepts put forth, ignore the mind blowing backtracks and story twisits, ignore the bold cinematography and beautiful setting and remember that it's all about the guns. If you have a strong political constitution, watch this movie with a grain of salt. If you are wishy washy and your opoinion is easily swayed by a dramaitc portrayl, stay away from this movie.