Runaway Jury

"Trials are too important to be decided by juries."

2003 2h 7m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 1,614

DramaThriller

Synopsis

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After a workplace shooting in New Orleans, a trial against the gun manufacturer pits lawyer Wendell Rohr against shady jury consultant Rankin Fitch, who uses illegal means to stack the jury with people sympathetic to the defense. But when juror Nicholas Easter and his girlfriend Marlee reveal their ability to sway the jury into delivering any verdict they want, a high-stakes cat-and-mouse game begins.

“Trials are too important to be decided by juries.”

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Cast

John Cusack
Nick Easter
Gene Hackman
Rankin Fitch
Dustin Hoffman
Wendell Rohr
Rachel Weisz
Marlee
Bruce Davison
Durwood Cable
Bruce McGill
Judge Harkin
Jeremy Piven
Lawrence Green
Leland Orser
Lamb

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gary Fleder
Writers: Brian Koppelman, Rick Cleveland, David Levien
Languages: French, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $60M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Gary Fleder, shot by Robert Elswit. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor William Steinkamp shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John Cusack and Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Trials are too important to be decided by juries.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gary Fleder directs. Robert Elswit behind the camera. Christopher Young scores. William Steinkamp cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $60M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 23 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
4Directed by Gary Fleder, shot by Robert Elswit. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor William Steinkamp shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7John Cusack and Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Trials are too important to be decided by juries.".
9IMDB entry: tt0313542 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 24 themes, including "based on novel or book", "court case", "widow", "new orleans, louisiana".

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Elswit
Original score: Christopher Young
Editing: William Steinkamp
Production design: Nelson Coates
Makeup / hair: Judy Crown
VFX supervisor: Mark Spatny
Sound: Wylie Stateman
Stunt coordinator: Ron Stein
Runtime: 127 min · 2h 7m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $60,000,000
Box office: $80,154,140
Return: 134% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Runaway Jury (2003)

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Gary Fleder

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-09-06
★ 6/10
This offers quite an interesting look at just how seriously big business takes the selection of a jury, when large amounts of money are at stake. Gene Hackman is "Fitch", a man who makes a very good living acting on behalf of these organisations. His job is to probe into the private lives of prospective jurors, of their loves, peccadillos, politics - looking for weaknesses or reasons not to select them. This case involves one of the most contentious in the US pantheon of criminal law - the right to bear arms, and it falls to "Rohr" (Dustin Hoffman) to bring an action against a weapons manufacturer that is going to be tough. As the case proceeds, we are introduced to the less honourable nature of one of the jurors, and his girlfriend who have a plan of their own - and, as you'd expect, there is money and pressure being applied to ensure that the jury reach the "correct" verdict. Intriguing as the plot is, though, the film itself stutters along without much innovation. The courtroom scenes are a bit dreary and once we have established the premiss, Hackman's efforts are all rather repetitive and become less and less menacing and sophisticated as the story slips into a rather mediocre melodrama of private life shenanigans. Hoffman is adequate, no more, as are Rachel Weisz and John Cusack as the eagerly duplicitous but not awfully bright "Easter". Based on one of John Grisham's more inventive stories - nobody ever actually wants to be on a jury - this loses much in it's translation to film and by the mid-point I was really pretty turned off by the whole thing. It's watchable, but becomes more preposterous as it proceeds to a conclusion that, though not quite what you might expect, is still a bit flat.

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