00s Movie Review - High Crimes

Director: Carl Franklin
Genre: Crime/ Thriller/ Mystery/ Drama
Runtime: 115 minutes
Year: 2002
Starring: Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Jim Caviezel, Amanda Peet, Adam Scott, Bruce Davison, Emilio Rivera, Michael Shannon

Description: A successful lawyer’s (Ashley Judd) husband (Jim Caviezel) is arrested for murdering 9 villagers in El Salvador in 1988 as US soldier under a different name. She defends him in military court and investigates. Framed?

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 22: A MOVIE BASED ON A BOOK
 
Review: The first scene in “High Crimes” shows us a battlefield in El Salvador. Not your typical start for a courtroom drama. But “this film isn’t your typical courtroom drama.

Claire Kubik is a successful lawyer in Marin Country. She is married to Tom, a self-employed entrepreneur. They seem to be living a very happy life. But this happiness is brutally disturbed when one evening the F.B.I. arrest Tom. The accusations against Tom are shocking: He is accused of killing 9 people in El Salvador, 15 years ago, when his name was still Ron Chapman and he was in the military. Tom goes to jail and might be looking at the death penalty, but Claire believes in his innocence. Because the lawyer appointed to Tom is still a rookie, Claire wants to work the case herself. Because military law is different from what she knows, Claire calls the help of the experiences Charlie Grimes.

It sounds like your standard story about a man being accused of a crime which he didn’t commit, but there is much more to it. It has some interesting twists and reveals, which made the film pretty exciting. You’re constantly wondering if Tom really committed this crime or not, you’re never really sure until the very end.

The movie is based on the book by Joseph Finder and it’s clear that the story is very strong. I never read the book, so I can’t compare. I enjoyed the cast, Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman teaming up again after “Kiss the Girls”, which was an even better thriller. But I highly enjoyed “High Crimes”.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

00s Movie Review - Runaway Jury

Director: Gary Fleder
Genre: Crime/ Thriller/ Drama
Runtime: 127 minutes
Year: 2003
Starring: John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Bruce Davison, Bruce McGill, Jeremy Piven, Cliff Curtis, Leland Orser, Jennifer beals, Bill Nunn, Luis Guzman, Nora Dunn, Dylan McDermott

Description: A juror on the inside (John Cusack) and a woman on the outside (Rachel Weisz) manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer.

Review: Rankin Fitch is a ruthless jury consultant who must select a jury for a revolutionary trial to ensure its verdict. He fears nothing or no one. One the trial begins, it turns out that the selection of one juror can cause problems. He finds himself in a situation that shows he doesn’t know his opponent as well as he initially thought after all.

The films starts with a gruesome shooting in an office that kills many people. We are then place two years later when it is revealed that the shooting caused a trial to now take place that should set a precedent. The wife of one of the men killed is suing the gun manufacturer because it caused guns to be easy to get.

On one side us the conscientious lawyer Wendell Rohr. On the other, the man who is one the side of the gun manufacturer and who actually ges paid for it if the trial is won: Rankin Fitch. His job is to make sure who gets on the jury, because justice in the USA is still left to juries, so it is important to know the people on the jury well. Fitch’s team takes this very seriously and also very far.

Both parties are given a list of names and files of all the people who were called for jury duty, for them to decide which of them will actually be on that jury. Fitch thinks that they got this one, but someone within the jury is there with a purpose.

It is based on a John Grisham novel, an author known for his court dramas. But “Runaway Jury” is one of my favorites and it’s not your standard court drama either. We get to experience how incredibly flawed the jury system is. This movie is about manipulation, corruption, extortion and so on. And even though this movie came out in the early 2000s, this film is still so topical.

“Runaway Jury” is a very strong crime thriller with some surprising twists throughout and a fantastic cast. A movie that is underrated if you ask me.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 71: Short Cuts

Director: Robert Altman
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 187 minutes
Year: 1993
Starring: Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, Jack Lemon, Julianne Moore, Matthew Modine, Fred Ward, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chris Penn, Tim Robbins, Lili Taylor, Robert Downey Jr., Madeleine Stowe, Lily Tomlin, Frances McDormand, Tom Waits, Lyle Lovett, Lori Singer, Anne Archer

Description: The day-to-day lives of a number of suburban Los Angeles residents.

Review: I always like films with multiple storylines. So I was excited to finally see ‘Short Cuts”, where we follow a bunch of Los Angeles suburban residents.
Suburban life in “Short Cuts” is anything but ordinary and perfect: adultery, suicide, loveless marriages, alcoholism. Long live the nineties.
The storylines are all basically about relationships stuck in their day to day life. The storylines wouldn’t be interesting on their own, together they work a bit better. But still not so much to keep me interested for the entire runtime. Because that for me is the biggest problem. The film is 187 minutes long, way too long for a film like this.
I get why people might like this film, but I’m not a big fan of the film. I found it pretty mediocre, not compelling, it just didn’t interest me. Later movies with themes like this, like “American Beauty” and “Magnolia” are much better.

Rating: 2,5/ 5