List Price: $27.98 Our Price: $25.18YOU SAVE $2.8!
Buy it
DVD Runaway Jury (Full Screen Edition)
Based on the bestseller by John Grisham, Runaway Jury is a slick thriller that's exciting enough to overcome the gaps in its plot. The ultimate target has been changed: Grisham's legal assault on the tobacco industry was switched to the hot-button issue of gun control (no doubt to avoid comparison to The Insider) in a riveting exposé of jury-tampering. Gene Hackman plays the ultra-cynical, utterly unscrupulous pawn of the gun-makers, using an expert staff and advanced electronics to hand-pick a New Orleans jury that will return a favorable verdict; Dustin Hoffman (making his first screen appearance with real-life former roommate Hackman) defends the grieving widow of a gun-shooting victim with idealistic zeal, while maverick juror John Cusack and accomplice Rachel Weisz play both ends against the middle in a personal quest to hold gun-makers accountable. It's riveting stuff, even when it's obvious that Grisham and director Gary Fleder have glossed over any details that would unravel the plot's intricate design. --Jeff Shannon
This film is a real enigma of sorts. It tries to be a movie about people with hidden agendas while having an agenda of its own concerning the issue of gun control. While I liked the human aspect of it, the whole gun control angle is a bit wasted in its own muddled mixed message that not only contradicts itself in certain aspects but also takes away from the story at hand. The human side of the story though did move me, and I give credit to the actors for at least giving there all for this movie to work. Gene Hackman gives a sense of loss and humanity to an other wise villain role, and even though he does get his comeuppance in the end, you just feel sorry for him anyway. Rachel Weisz gives a strong and human performance to her role, and literally carries the movie on her shoulders. I agree with the majority that she and Hackman are the heart and soul of this film. Dustin Hoffman is great as well but does not have as much promenade as expected and John Cusack is very good, and he hold himself well with the other actors in the movie. The movie as a whole feels a little too rough to be considered a complete movie, and the way it cuts from scene to scene feels too frantic to take with any clarity.
Don't expect a clear cut message but expect Gene Hackman, Rachel Weisz, and the rest of the cast to give a very interesting show about human nature.
Grisham¿s Legal Vengeance Fantasies: Law Versus Justice
Set in New Orleans, this John Grisham yarn, which required four screenwriters to make the transition to film, stretches credulity despite its wealth of legal detail. A young man, played by John Cusak, is called to jury duty and, with the aid of a witty and capable, seemingly new girlfriend he meets in a voodoo shop, proceeds to mastermind the jury, brought to court to adjudicate a case brought against gun companies in an office slaying that has left a devoted young husband and father dead. Gene Hackman plays the ruthless defense attorney and Dustin Hoffman the slightly less ruthless prosecution. Both contemplate paying off the Cusak girlfriend, who pulls the strings behind the scenes, to ensure victory. It is especially important to the gun company, as they advertise "fingerprint proof" exterior on their assault weapons that thus seem clearly marketed to criminals. The issues involved, constitutional right to bear arms versus evil economic feedback between corporate and criminal culture, are obviously important, and Grisham is not only the master but the originator of his sub-genre of morally loaded legal thriller. As with Greek heroes of ancient tragedy, whose strengths are their weakness, so Grisham's Runaway Journey seems to exemplify the double-edgedness of Grisham's formula. Although superficially, they seem, because of the breadth of legal knowledge and clever plotting, to be extremely realistic, in the end they are-or at least this one is-as I see it, fantasies of legal revenge. Even barring the incredible casting of an intrepid, strikingly good-looking young couple able to mastermind the decision making of an entire jury by an all-but-total knowledge of legal precedent and human psychology-let alone their ability to convince top-notch lawyers of their near-preternatural abilities-it is difficult to believe that the expensive defense legal firm could involve so many people in an underground high-tech stakeout that spies, hires criminals to break-and-enter, commit arson, intimidate witnesses, and accept bribes. Not to say that all these things don't happen, but the sheer density of the crimes committed by the defenders of the gun company, combined with the numbers of young accomplices, seems unlikely. On the other hand, a recent news story revealed the CEO of Wesson to have been involved in multiple armed robberies and a prison escape. Found out, he stepped down as chairman but stayed on the board. I can imagine Grisham being a relatively idealistic young lawyer who became completely disgusted with the money basis, and amorality, of the legal system. So I see the formula he has discovered less as legal thriller than legal vengeance fantasy, in which those wronged-those who so often do not receive justice in the "justice system"-finally get their comeuppance. Dramatically, he exaggerates for the sake of clarity and imagines criminals-primarily those in the legal system, corporate culture, and government-getting what they deserve. Unfortunately, it is wish fulfillment, not reality.
The strong performance of Rachel Weisz is the only plus here
Derivative thriller that not only does not stay close to the book but also lacks the insight to give a better show. The script has too many problems and the pacing starts and stalls at will in the most starling of moments. The acting is fine with Rachel Weisz stealing the show and doing better than she should have consitering the script is flat and Gene Hackman doing his best work in years. The whole espionage aspect to the film just does not work, and in reality, the case would have been throng out of a real court. The acting is the only plus in this film and that is a miracle because the rest of the film just does not work.
Thanks to Rachel Weisz and Gene Hackman, the movie is just ok but if it had a decent script, it could have been better.
Like a good dream, Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation envelops you with an aura of fantastic light, moody sound, head-turning love, and a feeling of déjà vu, even though you've probably never been to this neon-fused version of Tokyo. Certainly Bob Harris has not. The 50-ish actor has signed on for big money shooting whiskey ads instead of doing something good for his career or his long-distance family. Jetlagged, helplessly lost with his Japanese-speaking director, and out of sync with the metropolis, Harris (Bill Murray, never better) befriends the married but lovelorn 25-year-old Charlotte (played with heaps of poise by 18-year-old Scarlett Johansson). Even before her photographer husband all but abandons her, she is adrift like Harris but in a total entrapment of... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Scarlett Johansson - Bill Murray - Giovanni Ribisi Director(s): Sofia Coppola DVD Release Date: Released the 03 February 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $11.24YOU SAVE $3.74!
Buy it
As upscale sitcoms go, Something's Gotta Give has more to offer than most romantic comedies. Obviously working through some semi-autobiographical issues regarding "women of a certain age," writer-director Nancy Meyers brings adequate credibility and above-average intelligence to what is essentially (but not exclusively) a fantasy premise, in which an aging lothario who's always dated younger women (Jack Nicholson, more or less playing himself) falls for a successful middle-aged playwright (Diane Keaton) who's convinced she's past the age of romance, much less sexual re-awakening. As long as old pals Nicholson and Keaton are on screen discussing their dilemma or discovering their mutual desire, Something's Gotta Give is terrific, proving (in case anyone had forgotten) that... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Nancy Meyers DVD Release Date: Released the 30 March 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.94 Your Price: $10.75YOU SAVE $4.19!
Buy it
A sleek George Clooney and a seductive Catherine Zeta-Jones square off magnificently in the divorce comedy Intolerable Cruelty. The plot is simple: Lawyer supreme Miles Massey (Clooney, Out of Sight, Ocean's Eleven) skillfully outmaneuvers gold-digger Marylin Rexroth (Zeta-Jones, Chicago, Traffic) when she divorces her wealthy husband--and she sets out to get revenge. But this movie comes from the creative minds of the Coen Brothers (Fargo, Raising Arizona, O Brother Where Art Thou?), and so Intolerable Cruelty includes a Scottish wedding chapel in Vegas, an asthmatic hit man, fluffy-dog-stroking European nobility, and a legendarily unbreakable pre-nuptial agreement. Still, it's pretty restrained for the Coens; smooth and... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): George Clooney - Catherine Zeta-Jones - Billy Bob Thornton Director(s): Ethan Coen - Joel Coen DVD Release Date: Released the 10 February 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $12.98 Your Price: $11.68YOU SAVE $1.3!
Buy it
Cate Blanchett blazes through The Missing, a new Western directed by Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13). The camera truly loves the planes of her face; even dusty and bedraggled, she radiates star power--which is good, because The Missing needs it. When her daughter is kidnapped by renegade Indians, Maggie Gilkeson (Blanchett) is forced to turn to her estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones, Men in Black, The Fugitive), a man who abandoned her as a child to join an Indian tribe. Together, they pursue a malignant brujo (or witch), who sells young girls in Mexico. The Missing features solid supporting performances from Evan Rachel Wood, Eric Schweig, Aaron Eckhart, Val Kilmer, and feisty young Jenna Boyd as Maggie's youngest daughter... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Tommy Lee Jones - Cate Blanchett - Evan Rachel Wood Director(s): Ron Howard DVD Release Date: Released the 24 February 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.94 Your Price: $17.95YOU SAVE $1.99!
Buy it
Marking a welcome return to the breezy style of Thelma & Louise, Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men reminds us that the director of Gladiator is equally adept with quirky comedies and offbeat characters. Smoothly adapted from the novel by Eric Garcia and set amidst the sunlit, 1950s-style architecture of L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, this gently dramatic comedy centers on Roy (Nicolas Cage), a divorcée whose career as a con artist is complicated by: (1) his ongoing struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder, which manifests itself through various quirks and rituals; (2) a wily partner (Sam Rockwell) whose criminal ambitions are greater than Roy suspects; and (3) the arrival of 14-year-old Angela (Alison Lohman), claiming to be the daughter he's never known. Turns out... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Nicolas Cage - Sam Rockwell - Alison Lohman Director(s): Ridley Scott DVD Release Date: Released the 01 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $12.97 Your Price: $11.67YOU SAVE $1.3!
Buy it
