Release Date: February 2, 1996
Starring: Demi Moore, Alec Baldwin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Heche, James Gandolfini, Lindsay Crouse, Tony Lo Bianco
Directed by: Brian Gibson
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R (violence, language, sexuality)
Every legal thriller or courtroom drama needs something to spice it up. The last two John Grisham renditions, The Pelican Brief and The Client, were both not nearly as tense or exciting as the novels. Grisham's writing, although early on very enthralling (which may be misleading some viewers, since his earlier novels are only now coming to film), lends itself to certain blandness that's typical of legal thrillers. George Dawes Green, who wrote the novel that The Juror was based upon, is an unfamiliar name to me; however, this example says that his books are much more tightly wound than Grisham's.
The story is easy enough to follow, and doesn't rely on an intricate plot to keep the viewer involved. Demi Moore plays Annie Laird, a smart and sexy single mother who's chosen for jury duty. Oblivious of the news, she has no idea what she's gotten into when she accepts her role as a juror on the Louie Boffano case. A prestigious mob boss, Boffano sends one of his hired henchmen, a malicious man known only as the Teacher (Alec Baldwin), to ensure that Annie will convince the rest of the jury that Boffano (Tony Lo Bianco) is innocent. Using all methods of fear, the Teacher gains Annie's utter hatred, and at the same time falls in love with her. (Okay, so the last part's a little outrageous, but hey, who wouldn't fall in love with Demi Moore?)
Moore never fails to involve a certain amount of sexual tension in her characters, although this time there's even enough room for both her and her best friend Juliet (Anne Heche) to fall in love (and out of it) with the Teacher before the end of the movie. Both of them come off very insecure, and by the time Moore correctly channels her hatred at the end of the movie, it serves little purpose. Rather, the movie belongs to a fantastically sinister Alec Baldwin. His acting is very dynamic here, shifting from the soft and seductive cooing to a gravelly, controlled rage. Very nicely done on his part.
Baldwin's character also facilitates a good degree of suspense and thriller-ism for the entire movie. Although certain courtroom scenes are very idle, the movie's pacing is tense throughout. Brian Gibson, who is an on-again-off-again director more expierenced in television directing, has no trouble making a cohesive movie here with the script that Ted Tally wrote. Tally, of credit for Outbreak and Silence of the Lambs has engineered a finely tuned screenplay on which the movie operates. There's little or no superfluous matter, and the entire thing is fun to watch. Definitely worth getting into.
all contents © 1996 Craig Roush