To see movie times.
Runaway Jury
PG-13
Starting tomorrow at area theaters
Three reels out of four
Courtroom drama with CIA-like intrigue. An A-list cast. Thrills and spills galore.
Runaway Jury is the kind of movie Hollywood does best.
And if those aren’t reasons enough to see it, the film also marks the first screen pairing of Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman, who actually were roommates in their salad days in New York City.
In this John Grisham tale, a young widow in New Orleans brings a civil suit against the powerful corporate consortium she holds responsible for her husband’s murder and sets in motion a multimillion-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.
Hackman plays Rankin Fitch, a ruthless jury "consultant" who has been retained by the gun companies. Armed with a mini army of surveillance experts and private detectives that would make the CIA jealous, Fitch will stop at nothing to swing the jury his client’s way. Things get sticky when it looks like a juror (John Cusack) is in the jury-fixing business himself.
The acting firepower in Runaway Jury is impressive. Joining Hackman, Hoffman and Cusack are Rachel Weisz and an array of some of the finest supporting actors working. To name a few: Luis Guzman (Traffic), Jeremy Piven (Black Hawk Down) and Nora Dunn (formerly of Saturday Night Live). And, interestingly, Jennifer Beals (Flashdance) makes a rare cameo.
Like most adaptations of Grisham’s work, there are some contrivances and implausibilities along the way. Without giving away too much, when you find out who Cusack’s character is and what his motive is, it becomes even more unlikely that he and his cohort would have been as competent as they were. (You have to see it to understand this.)
That being the case, Runaway Jury works better as a thriller than as a courtroom drama. And in this case, most of the courtroom drama is normally used as a conduit for the thrills, anyway, so for the most part the movie works quite well.
My only request is that the next time Hoffman attempts a New Orleans accent, he is provided with a good dialect coach.
28 Days Later
R
Available Tuesday
Imagine a Hammer horror film from the ’70s shot on digital and you have an idea of the look and feel of 28 Days Later, from Scottish independent filmmaker Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave, Trainspotting). Cillian Murphy plays Jim, a bicycle messenger in London who is hit by a car and sent into a coma. When he wakes up a month later (hence the title), he finds that the streets are deserted with the exception of blood-lusting zombies and a few normal people mucking about. Jim gradually learns that a highly contagious virus broke out just after he went into the hospital, killing most of England. The film is both visceral and cerebral. But if you’re squeamish, you might want to wait for Finding Nemo.
Movie schedules until Oct. 24 unless otherwise indicated. Call theaters for updates.
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA
United Artists Riverview Plaza
Columbus Blvd. and Reed St.
215-755-2219
*Runaway Jury (PG-13)
Fri.- Thu.: 12:15, 1:15, 3:15, 4:15, 6:45, 7:15, 9:45, 10:15
*Texas Chainsaw Massacre (R)
Fri.-Thu.: 12, 12:30, 1, 2:30, 3, 4, 5, 5:30, 7, 7:30, 8, 9:30, 10, 10:30
*Good Boy! (PG)
Fri. & Sun.-Thu.: 11:45 a.m., 12:35, 2:15, 3:10, 4:45, 7:20, 9:40
Sat.: 11:45 a.m., 12:35, 2:15, 3:10, 4:45, 7:20, 9:40
*House of the Dead (R)
Fri.-Mon. & Wed.-Thu.: 12:20, 12:50, 2:40, 3:20, 4:55, 7:10, 7:50, 9:20, 10:05
Tue.: 12:20, 2:40, 4:55, 7:50, 10:05
*Intolerable Cruelty (PG-13)
Fri.-Thu.: 11:50 a.m., 12:40, 2:25, 4:05, 5:10, 6:50, 7:45, 9:35, 10:35
*Kill Bill, Volume 1 (R)
Fri.-Thu.: 12:10, 1:10, 2:45, 3:45, 5:20, 7:05, 7:55, 9:55, 10:45
*Out of Time (PG-13)
Fri.-Thu.: 11:55 a.m., 2:35, 5:05, 7:35, 10:10
*School of Rock (PG-13)
Fri.-Thu.: 12:05, 2:50, 5:25, 8:05, 10:40
*The Rundown (PG-13)
Fri.-Mon. & Thu.: 1:20, 4:30, 6:55, 9:50
Tue.-Wed.: 4:30, 9:50
*The Fighting Temptations (PG-13)
Fri.-Thu.: 12:25, 3:40, 7:40, 10:20
*Underworld (R)
Fri.-Thu.: 7:25, 10:25
CENTER CITY
Ritz at the Bourse
400 Ranstead St.
215-925-7900
*Station Agent (R)
Fri.-Thu.: 12:50, 3, 5:10, 7:20, 9:30
*Wonderland (R)
Fri.-Thu.: 12:30, 2:50, 5:20, 7:30, 9:55
*Mambo Italiano (R)
Thu.: 12:50, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:40
Fri.-Thu.: 12:40, 5:15, 7:35
*Under the Tuscan Sun (PG-13
Thu.: 12, 1, 2:30, 3:30, 5:10, 7:40, 9:15, 10
Fri.-Mon. & Wed-Thu.: 12, 1, 2:30, 3:30, 5:10, 6:10, 7:40, 8:40, 10
Tue.: 12, 1, 2:25, 3:30, 4:50, 6:10, 8:40, 10
*Dirty Pretty Things (R)
Thu.: 12:45, 3, 5:20, 7:35, 9:55
Fri.-Thu.: 2:55, 9:55
*Demonlover (R)
Thu.: 1, 4, 7, 9:45 (Ends 10/16)
Ritz 5
214 Walnut St.
215-925-7900
*Veronica Guerin (R)
Fri.-Sun. & Tue.-Thu.: 12, 1, 2:20, 3:20, 4:40, 5:40, 7, 8, 9:20
Mon.: 12, 1, 2:20, 4:40, 5:40, 7, 8, 9:20
*Lost in Translation (R)
Thu..-Tue. & Thu.: 12:15, 1:15, 2:35, 3:35, 5:15, 6:15, 7:40, 8:40, 10
Wed.: 12:15, 1:15, 2:35, 3:35, 5:15, 6:15, 8:40, 10
*Thirteen (R)
Thu.-Thu.: 12:30, 2:50, 5:10, 7:30, 9:50
*Bollywood Hollywood (PG-13)
Thu.: 12:15, 2:40, 5:05, 7:30, 9:55 (Ends 10/16)
*Casa De Los Babys (R)
Thu.: 12:20, 2:35, 5:10, 7:25, 9:40 (Ends 10/16)
Ritz East
Second Street Between Chestnut and Walnut
215-925-7900
*Mystic River (R)
Thu. & Thu.: 12, 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10
Fri.-Mon. & Wed.: 12, 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10
Tue.: 1, 4, 7, 10
Roxy Theater
2023 Sansom St.
215-923-6699
*Concert for George (PG-13)
Thu.-Fri. & Mon.-Thu.: 5:05, 7:30, 9:45
Sat.-Sun.: 11:45 a.m., 2:15, 5:05, 7:30, 9:45
*The Adventures of Robin Hood (NR)
Thu.-Fri. & Mon.-Thu.: 5, 7:15, 9:35
Sat.-Sun.: 11:30 a.m., 2:20, 5, 7:15, 9:35 SPR
