Rating: 
Summary: Artistic license run amuck
Review: Took a perfectly good novel and perverted the story line so it barely resembles the orginal. Can not recommend it in good conscience. Stick with the book or try another movie selection,
Rating:
Summary: two hours of liberal indoctrination
Review: okay evil corporations, victimization, entitlement, and class warfare. I felt for a time that the Democratic National Commitee put this movie out. I think the only thing missing was President Bush busting through the courtroom doors in a Nazi uniform. I humorously enjoyed the stereotypical character types of the gun dealers and "overly" done wealthy gun business owners. Just substitute oil, fast food, Wal-Mart or tobacco for any sequel. These same characters will do well. Two stars are given relectantly for star power and decent acting.
Rating: 
Summary: A good movie despite its biases.
Review: Fine thriller that lacks a balance view of the subject of guns, and makes it look like an after school special with a happy ending. Despite that problem, the actors involved do their best with what is giving, with Gene Hackman Rachel Weisz, and John Cusack giving their all to a bias script that rather focus on super heroics rather than reality. None the less, a very good movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Weisz, Hackman, and Hoffman are good, but the movie is not
Review: Political driven take of the original John Grisham book that sunders the original book's premise and gives a very one sided take of a sensitive subject. Gene Hackman and Rachel Weisz do wonders with a very bad script, and Dustin Hoffman falls back to his Tootsie role in order to try to play a southern lawyer, who by the way in not even in the book too much at all. The setting of the movie is much different than the book as well as the outcome. I suggest you read the book instead of seeing the movie, because the book is much better.
Rating:
Summary: Good for a once over
Review: Well known actors John Cusack, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman along with a handful of others that have made a good showing in other films bring up the cast list along with what seemed a fairly decent budget. Based on the John Grisham book "The Runaway Jury", the adaptation to film seems to have twisted the original book storyline of Anti-Tobacco People Vs. Big Tobacco Industry into Anti-Gun People Vs. Big Gun Industry. I could lie and try and boost this thing but I just cant bring myself to give it 5 stars. I'm a huge fan of John Cusack especially in High Fidelity and Pushing Tin as well as Hackman and Hoffman in countless other films like Unforigiven and Rainman so I had to give this one a peek.
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie minds make great legal thriller.
Review: Runaway Jury moves like a runaway freight train that will not stop. The tension is great from start to finish, and the acting is top of the line with Rachel Weisz, Dustin Hoffman John Cusack and Gene Hackman giving show stopping performances that oils this runaway locomotive to it's dramatic depths and gives a real topic some thoughts to ponder with. The movie is also beautifully shot in Grand old New Orleans, and the direction does the city and it's people justice. Rent it.
Rating:
Summary: It¿s ok but it could have been better.
Review: Decent but overlong film that has its heart in the right place but tries to be more than it should have. If it just stuck to a simple story, it would have worked better but to add the whole Spy Vs Spy routine makes this movie a bit hard to grasps while it's trying to tell a real story about gun violence. Gene Hackman does make all this plausible, and to his credit, this movie works. Big credit also goes to Rachel Weisz, who not only helps Hackman in keeping this movie grounded in a bit of reality but gives this film its heart and soul, a hard thing to do when most of everything you see here feels very artificial. John Cusack does a great job as well as Dustin Hoffman who is a real treat to see. I just wish that the movie could have been more grounded in reality than it was.
Rating:
Summary: Mild courtroom drama that was done better on Law and Order
Review: Mild courtroom drama that does get the job done thanks in part to the performances of Gene Hackman and Rachel Weisz, which makes this film better than it should have been no thanks to a script that has enough plot holes to run a car through it. The story itself was done before and done much better in my opinion on an episode of the show "Law and Order" which gave a much more satisfying account on the subject of guns and responsibility than this movie tried to give to the viewer. I suggest you see that episode instead.
Rating:
Summary: Jury Duty
Review: While I wouldn't exactly call myself a huge fan of author John Grisham's legal thrillers, (I have only read A Time To Kill and The Chamber) I have seen a majority of the filmed adaptations that have been released over the years. For the most part, even though, some of them are put together better than others, most of them have been pretty entertaining nonetheless. Runnaway Jury is among the better of the Grisham potboilers. It's a game of cat and mouse. When the widow of shooting victim sues a gun manufacturer for damages, defense attorney Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) and his jury consultant (Jeremy Piven), face an uphill climb. It seems the gun manufacturer has hired the best in the business, Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman) for their jury consultant. Fitch uses all of the means at his disposal to find the perfect jury, even if, it's not on the up and up. Both the prosecution and defense get more than they bargained for though, when juror Nicholas Easter (John Cusack), and his girlfriend (Rachel Weisz) have an agenda of their own. Directed by Gary Fleder, the film wouldn't have been as good, with a different cast. The stars elevate the movie to a whole nother level. Hackman, in his third Grisham film, turns in a first rate performance. His scene with Hoffman in the men's room is worth the price of admission ala De Niro/Pacino in Heat. Cusack and Weisz are good too. The actors makes an otherwise maudlin script, at times, so much better. Fleder redeems himself as a director, after the mixed effort, that was Don't Say A Word. Some solid stuff. The extras on the DVD offer some fine behind the scenes moments and stories from acting greats Hackman and Hoffman--making for fine viewing. On the other hand, the audio commentary by Felder, ends up rather lopsided. The director spends a bit too much time analyzing the motivations and thrust of the story for my tastes. There's not enough detail about the shoot of the film itself. There two brief deleted scenes with optional director commentary. This stuff really doesn't add anything to the film or the extras for that matter. The "historic" scenes of the film are discussed in closer detail, by Fleder, Hackman and Hoffman, to hear how the 2 pros prepare is a real treat. Five featurettes take viewers through the production. You get stuff on the Making of, acting, cinematography, production design, and editing. These would have worked better if they were edited into one whole streamlined piece. Topping off the bonus material a trailer, not for Runnaway Jury, but for the Denzel Washington film Man On Fire. Runnaway Jury is a **** star effort that is well worth a look. Recommended
Rating:
Summary: Lacks a lot of substance.
Review: Runaway Jury is like a reading dime novel. Full of thrills but nothing of substance to keep you in tune with what is going on. Yea, the gun issue is a valid story but its really not giving any creditability here, and come off a bit shallow in certain points in the film. The much hype paring of Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman is well worth some interest but there are not enough of them to go around to make this movie a bit more interesting. Hoffman pales in comparison to the might Hackman, and comes off short in their scenes together, which is in fact more of a script problem than a talent one. The only actor in the movie that gives Hackman a worthy acting counterpart is Rachel Weisz, who not only gives Hackman a run for his money in the acting department, but almost outshines him as well. John Cusack does well in his part, and comes a cross as cool and collective. It's unfortunate that the actors did not have a script worthy of their talent because if they did, I would have more to praise about this film than I do.
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