Runaway Jury (2003) is an American drama/thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and Rachel Weisz.
The film adaptation of The Runaway Jury, which drops the "The" and is simply titled Runaway Jury, makes one big departure from the book. Grisham's novel pits the plaintiff, Celeste Wood, against a large, fictional tobacco company on the grounds that her husband's premature death was because of the company's cigarettes. The scriptwriters substituted a major firearms manufacturer for the tobacco company and firearms for the cigarettes, presumably to differentiate Runaway Jury from The Insider, a 1999 thriller featuring the tobacco industry.
Other significant changes from the book include the circumstances surrounding the husband's death, an increased role for the plaintiff's attorney (and thus for Dustin Hoffman), and more angelic motives on the part of the protagonists.
Roger Ebert's critique of this movie stated that the plot to sell the jury to the highest-bidding party was the most ingenious device in the story because it avoided pitting the "evil" and the "good" protagonists directly against each other in a stereotypical manner, but it plunged both of them into a moral abyss.
Wendell Rohr is a torts lawyer taking on the gun lobby. Rankin Fitch is the jury consultant for the Defendants and between them the battle is for the hearts and minds of the jury. But there is someone on the inside. Nicholas Easter is a juror with a girlfriend, Marlee, on the outside. they have a past ..... and their own agenda. Written by johnno.r@xtra.co.nz
When a day trader is shot in cold blood at his workplace, his widow sues a major gun manufacturer. Holding them responsible for his death, she dispatches idealistic lawyer Wendell Rohr to oversee the case. A good man of principle, Wendell takes charge. On the defense team, another man will take charge: Rankin Fitch, a powerful and ruthless jury consultant riding high on his frequent successes. But in the middle of it all is the jury, which both Wendell and Rankin are determined to sway. But what they're about to discover, is that one man and one woman stand in their way. Nicholas Easter is one of the jurors and he's the one collaborating with Marlee, his girlfriend, on the final outcome of the case. But as the case progresses, questions arise as to what the motives are of all those involved, and what some will do to secure the final outcome. Written by mystic80, Modified by Xav
