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Summary: How To Be A Good Defense Attorney
Review: REVERSAL OF FORTUNE is a movie about Alan Dershowitz's legal defense of the aristocratic Claus Von Bulow who is accused of trying to kill his wealthy wife Sunny. It is an interesting movie in that much is learned about the preparation done by Dershowitz and his staff. If you are a fan of such matters you may also find the film to be quite entertaining. The glimpses, however, into the personal lives of Claus and Sunny are sometimes very depressing.The acting by Ron Silver as Dershowitz and Jeremy Irons as Claus Von Bulow is excellent. The strong supporting cast includes Glenn Close, Annabella Sciorra and Uta Hagen. Barbet Schroeder also directed GENERAL IDI AMIN DADA and BARFLY.
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Summary: Fascinating character studies
Review: Striking, if sometimes creepy, performances by Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons highlight this unevenly directed take on the Claus Von Bulow story of the degenerate rich adapted from the book by Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz, who loves being in the limelight almost as much as he loves the law, took on the task of saving Claus Von Bulow from prison for the attempted murder of his rich wife initially as a means of raising money to help him in his pro bono cases. The rather heavy-handed manner in which we are advised of this should not detract from Dershowitz's work. The irony is that as the case developed Dershowitz became persuaded that Claus was innocent. Whether Dershowitz convinced himself of Von Bulow's innocence to assuage a possibly guilty conscience is a good question. Remember Dershowitz is the guy who said after the O.J. Simpson trial (he was one of Simpson's lawyers) that he didn't know whether Simpson was guilty or not. While that may be a good stance for a defense attorney, it is an insincere one for the public figure that Dershowitz has become. Starring as Dershowitz is Ron Silver in an uneven performance that at times made me think of Gabe Kaplan doing a young and uncomedic Groucho Marx. I wonder if Dershowitz was entirely flattered. Director Barbet Schroeder (Barfly 1987; Single White Female 1992) uses several points of view to tell the story, including a voice-over from Glenn Close's Sunny Von Bulow as she lies comatose, but also from recollections by Jeremy Irons' Claus Von Bulow. We see some scenes twice, colored by the differing points of view. This technique is entirely appropriate since what really happened is far from clear to this day. It is Claus Von Bulow's fortune that was reversed. Whether the first two juries or the third were right is something Schroeder leaves for the audience to determine. But make no mistake about it: the heart of the movie is Jeremy Irons' Oscar-winning performance. His subtle artistry based on a deep conception (true to life or not) of the aristocratic and Germanic Claus allowed him to create a persona that is cold and aloft, yet somehow sympathetic. The contrast with Silver's Brooklyn-born hyper-energetic Dershowitz made for some good cinematic chemistry, although sometimes it came across like nice Jewish boy defends a vampire. Glenn Close's flawless rendition of the idle, drug-befouled Sunny reminds us once again that she is a great actress. Unfortunately I don't think Schroeder spent as much time and energy as he should have with the people who played Dershowitz's law students. They seemed amateurish and unconvincing in just about every scene. And there were too many of them--law students, that is. Some distillation of intent, and more directorial guidance might have helped. Nicholas Kazan's script has a number of good lines in it, not the least of which is this: Dershowitz: "You are a very strange man." Claus Von Bulow: "You have no idea." Also nice was Von Bulow's observation after they are seated in the restaurant and after the waiter has called him "Doctor" Von Bulow: "When I was married to Sunny, we never got this table. Now, two injections of insulin and I'm a doctor." Indeed it is partly Kazan's snappy, comedic and self-revelatory lines that humanize Claus Von Bulow's character and persuade us that he could very well be innocent. While I like Dershowitz's self-serving style and his confidence, what I admire most about the man is his realistic conception of the defense attorney's role in our society and his idea of what makes a good lawyer; that is, a good lawyer is one who recognizes not only that every person deserves the best defense their resources allow, but that he himself deserves to defend those with the best resources.
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Summary: Exceptional drama of a legal defense
Review: The murder of Sunny von Bulow (played by Glenn Close)was one of the most publicized murder cases of the 80s. This film tells the story of how well-known lawyer Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) reversed the guilty verdict of accused murderer Klaus von Bulow (Jeremy Irons), Sunny's husband. This film walks a tightrope between a dramatization of the facts in the case and an account that presumes to know what really occurred, so that by the end of the film, we still do not know who, if anyone, committed the murder. The film is filled with great performances. Irons won a best-actor Oscar for his role. Silver's Dershowitz is impassioned and driven.
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Summary: Exceptional drama of a legal defense
Review: The murder of Sunny von Bulow (played by Glenn Close)was one of the most publicized murder cases of the 80s. This film tells the story of how well-known lawyer Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) reversed the guilty verdict of accused murderer Klaus von Bulow (Jeremy Irons), Sunny's husband. This film walks a tightrope between a dramatization of the facts in the case and an account that presumes to know what really occurred, so that by the end of the film, we still do not know who, if anyone, committed the murder. The film is filled with great performances. Irons won a best-actor Oscar for his role. Silver's Dershowitz is impassioned and driven.
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Summary: Fine transfer of an enjoyable film.
Review: This account of the appeal and eventual retrial of Claus von Bulow for the attempted murder of his heiress wife Sunny is a very enjoyable way to spend an evening. It's all as a result of Jeremy Iron's marvellous portrayal of the enigmatic von Bulow, although all the cast, namely Glenn Close as Sunny von Bulow and Ron Silver as the iconoclastic lawyer Alan Dershowitz, are excellent. Apparently Woody Allen was slated to play Dershowitz, but was unavailable. Irons is witty, conservative, and flamboyant. Apparently he wore the same cut of shirt as von Bulow, whose tails met and were attached together between his legs, to smooth out the shirt near the waistline. He said this gave him the upright stance and demeanour and helped him enter into von Bulow's character. The DVD has few extras but boasts an excellent transfer of the film itself: vivid and very natural looking. Some reviews have claimed that the soundtrack is too low, but this was not a problem at all when I watched the film, although my system is 2-speaker only not surround sound. The sound is very slightly lower in volume than normal but I would not have noticed this if I had not read earlier reviews of the disc. Certainly do not let this put you off owning this fine DVD.
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Summary: Suspense worthy of Hitchcock even though you know the ending
Review: This film is far more than just the salacious filmed version of the tabloid scandal documenting Claus von Bulow's conviction and appeal on charges of twice attempting to murder his fabulously wealthy wife Sunny by injecting her with insulin. Von Bulow was wholly unsympathetic character, idle so-called 'Eurotrash,' widely assumed to be slam-dunk guilty, even by the legal team representing him on appeal. The team's audacious strategy to directly attack the public presumption of guilt-to actually convince the appellate court that this evil man was innocent all along-bears a captivating symmetry to the way Jeremy Irons (playing von Bulow) takes the completely unlikable character and endows him with an almost charming ambiguity. He makes the same transformation take place within the viewer that took place among his attorneys. You begin the filming completely convinced von Bulow is evil incarnate, yet Irons somehow gets under your skin and makes you wonder....just maybe....could he be innocent....no, certainly not.....but maybe? This transformation can be credited not only to Iron's Oscar-winning performance, but to Barbet Schroeder's magnificent and sensitive direction and the many other outstanding performances in the film. I loved the way the Schroeder visually contrasted the shadowy, languid, dark settings in the von Bulows' Newport mansion to the aggressive, skittish, vigorous young lawyers finding legal inspiration over games of pickup basketball played with cutthroat intensity. Glenn Close, playing Sunny von Bulow, manages not to be overshadowed by Iron's performance even though her character spends most of the film in a coma. (Imagine, stunning acting without even moving your pinkie!) In sum, even though we know the outcome from the start, the movie is a top-flight suspense movie, the best made in years. Somehow I imagine that Alfred Hitchcock himself would have been proud to call it his.
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Summary: Irons fans, rejoice!
Review: This is a field day for admirers of Jeremy Irons, besides being a great mystery. Irons dominates as the hateful but strangely compelling Claus von Bulow. He really deserved his Oscar. A good movie to rent when you're bored with the new releases against the wall at Blockbuster.
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Summary: It's all about Irons
Review: This is a slyly clever adaptation of Alan Dershowitz' account of the retrial of Claus von Bulow. It features strong performances from Glenn Close, and Ron Silver as Dershowitz, and Barbet Schroeder won an Academy Award nomination as Best Director. But in the end, this movie is all about the portrayal of Claus von Bulow by Jeremy Irons, in an Oscar winning performance. Irons is superbly ambiguous throughout, never allowing the audience to finally settle its sympathies with his character. Irons' final line is typically enigmatic: "Just kidding." This movie is well worth a look.
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Summary: Irons and Schroeder sparkle.
Review: This is one of my favorite films of all time! I first saw it on television when I was twelve and was immediately captivated by Irons. The way he acted was so unusual, but delightful. Now eighteen, the film is even better than I remember. The film is quite artless. The only thing that could key one in that you're watching a movie was the scene where the door opens as the camera comes into Sunny's hospital room. Otherwise, the film never calls attention to itself. Irons is superb. Equal kudos go to the acting of Ron Silver (of whom I've only seen in the Kathryn Bigelow film 'Blue Steel') who isn't as peculiar as Irons, but Silver delivers an edge that never comes across as sanctimonious. This movie has a lot of details that I could mention, but I digress. The director of this film is Barbet Schroeder. Yeah, I was surprised that the guy who did "Single White Female" did this film, too. But he delivers the goods. This film is a docudrama, but it could exist as a film on its own without the real events. In any case, this film has a perfect balance of everything and I strongly recommend it to anyone who loves the director or Irons or docudramas or smart films or legal films. Put down whatever book you're reading and treat yourself to "Reversal of Fortune".
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