Home :: DVD :: Mystery & Suspense :: Detectives  

Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem
British Mystery Theater
Classics
Crime
Detectives

Film Noir
General
Mystery
Mystery & Suspense Masters
Neo-Noir
Series & Sequels
Suspense
Thrillers
Just Cause

Just Cause

List Price: $12.98
Your Price: $11.68
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Do not rent this movie
Review: One of the worst movies(with a budget)which I've ever seen. The movie is all over the place for fear of offending any segment of the viewing audience. It's supposedly anti-death penalty and police brutality, and yet Sean Connery's character, a crusading Harvard Law School professor and death penalty opponent, winds up siding with a policeman who sticks a .38 in a murder suspect's mouth and plays Russian roulette with it. The death row inmate, played by L.A. Law's Blair Underwood, is freed, only to be eaten by an alligator. The plot is based on a coincidence stemming from Connery's character's marriage to Kate Capshaw's character which is wildly improbable. The best thing about "Just Cause" is Ed Harris' portrayal of a psychotic death row inmate, although even that is a bit over-the-top.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A triple-twister!
Review: Our favorite twist-plot movie. Gotta see it! You think you figured it out and... SURPRISE...you didn't. A bit gory. Sean Connery is captivating!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Evil in the Everglades
Review: Sean Connery stars as Harvard law professor Paul Armstrong in this cunning and twisting story of primeval evil and revenge. Bobby Earl is locked up in prison for the horrific rape and murder of an 11-year old girl in Ochopee, Florida. Bobby Earl's letter, delivered to Armstrong by Bobby Earl's grandmother, pulls the law professor into Florida where he reopens the investigation of the murder. While he's working, discovering how flimsy the evidence was against Bobby Earl, Armstrong is stalked by the two policemen that put the young man away. Tanny Brown, the lead policeman, is convinced that Bobby Earl is guilty, and isn't at all remorse about putting a gun inside the defendant's mouth to exact a confession. Armstrong's investigation leads him back to the prison where Bobby Earl is being held, and to the madman serial killer, Blair Sullivan, who is going to be executed within days. Armstrong meets resistance at every turn, but the surprises are even more daunting. Only days into the case, Armstrong finds out that Bobby Earl was brought up on kidnapping charges before the murder, and that the prosecuting attorney was none other than Armstrong's own wife who urged him to take the case.

Sean Connery is hands-down one of the best actors in the business. Watching him work so effortlessly, yet hitting every nuance and pulling the audience into the story, is poetry in motion. Besides starring as the original James Bond, he's played in dozens of movies, portraying serious roles as well as comic relief. Lawrence Fishburne, Tanny Brown in the movie, is known to most fans as Morpheus in THE MATRIX, but he's done several crime thrillers in addtion to this one, including ALWAYS OUTNUMBERED, HOODLUM, FLED, and DEEP COVER. Ed Harris, who starred in THE ABYSS and THE ROCK, plays deranged serial killer Blair Sullivan. Blair Underwood, L. A. LAW and DEEP IMPACT, plays Bobby Earl.

JUST CAUSE, based on the novel by John Katzenbach, is a slick, speeding bullet of a movie. The pacing is dynamically charged, and the plot twist reveals are staged to set the viewer up for senses-shattering one-two deliveries. The thriller fan will see some of the twists coming, but others will come out of left field yet maintain perfect sense. The ones that are seen coming bring the stomach-turning anxiety of watching a car wreck in motion and being unable to look away. Every character in the movie outside of Paul Armstrong has hidden depths and agendas of his and her own that play out against the main plot. Sean Connery, as always, delivers an outstanding performance. Fishburne leaves the impression that he could have been Tanny Brown had life gone differently for him. Blair Underwood plays Bobby Earl to a T, coming across as a guy who's just been unlucky in life. But the biggest gut-churning experience of the film is Ed Harris' portrayal of Blair Sullivan, which guarantees some uneasy moments long after the movie is over.

The only real fault in the movie is the recovery of the missing murder weapon after eight years. Armstrong looks for the knife himself after Tanny Brown tells him he's on a wild goose chase. Yet Tanny comes with him and they ultimately recover the blade. Instead of calling in a crime scene investigation, as most viewers know would have to be done, Tanny takes the weapon into custody himself. Also, follow up DNA work would have been nice to see, to further confirm the evidence. With all the DVD packaging that's coming out these days, behind-the-scenes featurettes or interviews with Connery or the other actors would have been a natural. DVD fans have come to expect these things and not having them on JUST CAUSE was a bit of a disappointment.

JUST CAUSE is a fabulous movie and a definite must for thriller fans. The addition of Sean Connery and the sterling performance by Ed Harris are icing on the cake. Anyone who enjoyed SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, L. A. CONFIDENTIAL, or THE USUAL SUSPECTS will also enjoy this DVD.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Evil in the Everglades
Review: Sean Connery stars as Harvard law professor Paul Armstrong in this cunning and twisting story of primeval evil and revenge. Bobby Earl is locked up in prison for the horrific rape and murder of an 11-year old girl in Ochopee, Florida. Bobby Earl's letter, delivered to Armstrong by Bobby Earl's grandmother, pulls the law professor into Florida where he reopens the investigation of the murder. While he's working, discovering how flimsy the evidence was against Bobby Earl, Armstrong is stalked by the two policemen that put the young man away. Tanny Brown, the lead policeman, is convinced that Bobby Earl is guilty, and isn't at all remorse about putting a gun inside the defendant's mouth to exact a confession. Armstrong's investigation leads him back to the prison where Bobby Earl is being held, and to the madman serial killer, Blair Sullivan, who is going to be executed within days. Armstrong meets resistance at every turn, but the surprises are even more daunting. Only days into the case, Armstrong finds out that Bobby Earl was brought up on kidnapping charges before the murder, and that the prosecuting attorney was none other than Armstrong's own wife who urged him to take the case.

Sean Connery is hands-down one of the best actors in the business. Watching him work so effortlessly, yet hitting every nuance and pulling the audience into the story, is poetry in motion. Besides starring as the original James Bond, he's played in dozens of movies, portraying serious roles as well as comic relief. Lawrence Fishburne, Tanny Brown in the movie, is known to most fans as Morpheus in THE MATRIX, but he's done several crime thrillers in addtion to this one, including ALWAYS OUTNUMBERED, HOODLUM, FLED, and DEEP COVER. Ed Harris, who starred in THE ABYSS and THE ROCK, plays deranged serial killer Blair Sullivan. Blair Underwood, L. A. LAW and DEEP IMPACT, plays Bobby Earl.

JUST CAUSE, based on the novel by John Katzenbach, is a slick, speeding bullet of a movie. The pacing is dynamically charged, and the plot twist reveals are staged to set the viewer up for senses-shattering one-two deliveries. The thriller fan will see some of the twists coming, but others will come out of left field yet maintain perfect sense. The ones that are seen coming bring the stomach-turning anxiety of watching a car wreck in motion and being unable to look away. Every character in the movie outside of Paul Armstrong has hidden depths and agendas of his and her own that play out against the main plot. Sean Connery, as always, delivers an outstanding performance. Fishburne leaves the impression that he could have been Tanny Brown had life gone differently for him. Blair Underwood plays Bobby Earl to a T, coming across as a guy who's just been unlucky in life. But the biggest gut-churning experience of the film is Ed Harris' portrayal of Blair Sullivan, which guarantees some uneasy moments long after the movie is over.

The only real fault in the movie is the recovery of the missing murder weapon after eight years. Armstrong looks for the knife himself after Tanny Brown tells him he's on a wild goose chase. Yet Tanny comes with him and they ultimately recover the blade. Instead of calling in a crime scene investigation, as most viewers know would have to be done, Tanny takes the weapon into custody himself. Also, follow up DNA work would have been nice to see, to further confirm the evidence. With all the DVD packaging that's coming out these days, behind-the-scenes featurettes or interviews with Connery or the other actors would have been a natural. DVD fans have come to expect these things and not having them on JUST CAUSE was a bit of a disappointment.

JUST CAUSE is a fabulous movie and a definite must for thriller fans. The addition of Sean Connery and the sterling performance by Ed Harris are icing on the cake. Anyone who enjoyed SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, L. A. CONFIDENTIAL, or THE USUAL SUSPECTS will also enjoy this DVD.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Team of Great Actors Try.. Yet Ultimately Fail.
Review: Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburn, Blair Underwood, Kate Capshaw and Ed Harris make the Best of Bad Material in "Just Cause", a Thriller that Too closely resembles a whole bunch of Better Thrillers.

Sean Connery stars as Paul Armstrong, a Harvard Law Professor, who is very Anti-Capital Punishment. When a Women comes to him, claiming her Son has been falsely sent to Death Row for Murder, Paul can't help but get involved. He heads to the Little Southern Town were it all took place, and begins his Own Investigation. He Inevitably runs into local resistance, namely the town sheriff, Tanny Brown. (Lawrence Fishburn) When Others also start to believe Armstrong may be right, Tanny is never swayed.

"Just Cause" never really gets Boring, but it doesn't get to Exciting either. Ed Harris' Hannibal Lector-ish performance is a High point and Lawrence Fishburn brings Welcome Tension to the Proceedings. Connery is as good as ever, though he isn't given much to do, Acting wise. Blair Underwood is Very Convincing as the man on Death Row, he convinces the audience as Easy as he convinces Connery. Kate Capshaw is the Weak Link in the Acting Department, and it's Not Really Her Fault. She plays Connery's wife... The Age difference isn't as extreme as Some ("A Perfect Murder" or "Entrapment") but they are Just Not Convincing together. They Actually sound like a Divorced couple when they speak to each other.

The Thrills are Pretty Tired, but they serve their Purpose. The Ending looked Hacked, Changed and Rushed all in one. You Get the Feel it has been Tampered with due to Test Screenings. Arne Glimcher's Directing is Utterly Average, everything happens like Clockwork, leaving Little opportunity to Surprise. It's as if he was watching Dozen's of Better Thrillers and yelling to the crew, "Ok, A Body has to Appear Now... Followed by a... A Shadow in the Bushes."

In Conclusion, Some Great performances, Good Thrills, Average Directing and a Tired old plot. If you don't mind these kind of Short-Cummings, you'll Probably enjoy yourself. Genre fans will probably enjoy it Even More.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Acting + Good Suspense = Good Movie
Review: The acting in this movie was superp. Ed Harris showed his versatility as the convicted serial killer on death row. Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne put in their usual stellar perfomances. The video transfer was very good and the sound on my home theater was decent -although no DD 5.1 soundtrack was disappointing (when are studios going to make that a standard for all DVDs?). Some extras would have been nice but maybe I'm asking too much for my $10. Definitely a nice addition to any DVD collection.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: What Evil Lurks
Review: There's more than the alligators lurking in the swamplands of the Everglades in this thriller. It's hard to know who to trust as a Harvard law proffessor(Sean Connery) who hasn't even had a case in 25 years, reopens one of a convicted killer(Blair Underwood) in Florida. There is evidence to support that his confession was beat out of him, and the proffessor intends to prove it.
Don't take anything for granted in this chilling mystery as the list of suspects grows. There's the tough lawman(Laurence Fishburne),the psychotic serial killer(Ed Harris) over in the next cell,and you may even suspect the alligators in the swamps for a while. There are many twists and turns that will have you wondering who done it? The prof's wife (Kate Capshaw)is even invovled. Lots of action, lots of gripping suspense to keep you glued to your seat. You wont want to miss a minute of it.
The cast listed above all do marvelous work in this film. But I must also mention that the legendary Ruby Dee makes a superb appearance, as well as Kevin Mccarthy and Hope Lang.
So let's talk about the DVD. Fabulous! Wonderful widescreen picture. The swamps never looked so clear. Colors looked perfect.Nighttime scenes were all perfectly visable. The sound in the Dolby Surround 2.0 was actually very good, probably could have been perfect in the 5.1 with all the action though. Don't look for any special features,this DVD has only the language selection of French.It's a great film to add to the thriller section of you DVD library(even without the extras) So Look out for those alligators and enjoy.......Laurie

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Booby-trapped
Review: This movie is what I call "booby-trapped." With good actors and some literate dialogue, it starts out as a film that might go somewhere. And it does, for about half an hour. Then, quite suddenly, it turns into a story that grows more and more contrived. These later plot developments are NOT original, as some viewers have suggested; they are improbable and exaggerated. In some cases, they are downright absurd, if the viewer stops and thinks about them for ten seconds. A man kidnaps a child outside her school in broad daylight in his home town while her teacher is standing in the yard waving at her? Give me a break. Several other developments in the story are of a similar level of believability. The characters are stereotypes. The foreshadowing is about as subtle as a baseball bat on the head. (How many times do we have to see the alligator before we figure out he's going to eat the villain at the end?)

But the very worst thing about this film is its insidious racism and its equally insidious indifference to the most vicious, racially based police brutality. By implication, this film suggests that it doesn't matter what they did to the accused, or why they did it; he was guilty in the end anyway; and moreover, the do-gooder lawyer who wanted to help him almost lost his family for his trouble. So much for caring about injustice.

If I could give this zero stars, it would be too many.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: just a waste of time cause it is
Review: you'd think that Laurence and Seanny would be more careful on what they do know a days., though Fishburne 4 years later did The Matrix, that helped out, but otherwise this is a stink pot thriller with bad acting. Blair Underwood is the killer in this pic and he gets killed by an alligator, hmmmmm and also shot. theres also a skinheaded Ed Harris who's really gay. dont be fooled, I wasnt. its pure ...garbage


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates