RUNAWAY JURY

Year: 2003
USA & UK: Twentieth Century Fox
Cast: John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, Bruce Davison, Bruce McGill, Jeremy Piven, Nick Searcy, Stanley Anderson, Cliff Curtis, Nestor Serrano, Leland Orser, Jennifer Beals, Gerry Bamman, Joanna Going, Bill Nunn, Juanita Jennings, Marguerite Moreau, Nora Dunn, Guy Torry, Rusty Schwimmer, Margo Moorer, David Dwyer, Michael Arata, Rhoda Griffis, Fahnlohnee R Harris, Corri English, Jason Davis, Xuan Van Nguyen, Douglas M Griffin, Carol Sutton, Deneen Tyler, Zach Hanner, Andrea Powell, Ted Manson, David E Jensen, Lori Heuring, Adella Gauthier, Afemo Omilami, Barret O'Brien, Ned Bellamy, Orlando Jones, Michelle M Miller, Eric Paulsen, Margaret Lawhon, Gary Grubbs, Lark Marie Fall, Marco St John, Henry Darrow, Don Henderson Baker, Daniel Tucker Kamin, Lance E. Nichols, Deacon Dawson, Elliott Street, Mike Pniewski, Joe Chrest, David Ramsey, Marcus Hester, Lara Grice, Loren Kinsella, Mark Jeffrey Miller, Wayne Roberts, Harvey Reaves, Wayne Ferrara, Peter Jurasik, Shannon Eubanks, Celia Weston, Irene Ziegler, Ed Nelson, Bernard Hocke, Mark Krasnoff, Christopher Mankiewicz, Cedric Pendleton, Perry Brown, Don Hood, Elizabeth Omilami, Claudia Coffee, Charlie Detraz, Sally Ann Roberts, Stuart Greer, Kathy Seiden, Jack Massey
Director: Gary Fleder
Country: USA
UK: 127 mins
USA Rated: PG-13 for violence, language and thematic elements
UK Certificate: 12A contains one use of strong language and moderate violence
USA Release Date: 17 October 2003
UK Release Date: 16 January 2004

Synopsis

From master storyteller John Grisham (THE FIRM, THE PELICAN BRIEF) comes RUNAWAY JURY, a suspense-thriller about a high-priced and ruthless jury 'consultant' (Gene Hackman) who will stop at nothing to secure a verdict on an explosive trial. With lives and millions of dollars at stake, the fixer wages a deadly battle with a jury member (John Cusack), a mysterious woman (Rachel Weisz) and an honest lawyer (Dustin Hoffman). The film marks the first pairing of screen legends Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman.

When a young widow in New Orleans brings a civil suit against the powerful corporate consortium she holds responsible for her husband's murder, she sets in motion a multi-million dollar case. But it's a suit that may be won even before it begins - based solely on the selection, manipulation and, ultimately, the attempted "theft" of the jury.

Representing the widow is Wendall Rohr (Hoffman), a courtly Southern lawyer with a moral center and a heartfelt passion for the case he's presenting. His opponent is ostensibly the attorney representing the corporation. But in reality, defense counsel is only the front man for Rankin Fitch (Hackman), a brilliant and ruthless jury consultant.

At a high tech command center set up in an old French Quarter warehouse, Fitch and his team work on the surveillance and assessment of potential jurors. He will know everything about their lives, and strategically manipulate the jury selection process. The only acceptable result is the perfect jury to vote in favor of his client.

Fitch and Rohr soon realize they're not the only ones out to win the jury. One of the jurors, Nick Easter (Cusack), seems to have his own plan for swaying the panel. And a mysterious woman known only as Marlee (Weisz) contacts both Rohr and Fitch telling them the jury's for sale to either of them - and that the verdict won't come cheap.

While the case is argued in court, a dangerous cat and mouse game begins to play out in New Orleans' French Quarter. Rohr's morality put to the test, and Fitch is poised to cross the line from selecting a jury to stealing it - no matter who gets hurt in the process.

On DVD the extras include a director's commentary, deleted scenes with optional commentary, selected scene narration and 7 featurettes.

DVD EXTRAS

DVD Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Widescreen 16x9)
DVD Sound Quality: 5.1 Dolby
DVD Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired

DVD Features:

Audio Commentary by Gary Fleder
Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary
Selected Scene Narration
7 Featurettes:
Exploring the Scene
Off the Cuff
The Ensemble
The Making of Runaway Jury
Shadow and Light
A Vision of New Orleans
Rhythm - The Craft of Editing