Runaway Jury is another slick, big budget adaptation of a John Grisham best seller, which focuses on a civil lawsuit brought against gun manufacturer Vicksburg Firearms after one of their weapons was used in a shooting spree.

The movie contains four key characters; Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman), a jury consultant working for the defense who will go to any lengths to win; Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman), a lawyer who represents the widow of a man who was killed in the shooting spree; and Nicholas Easter (John Cusack) a video game store clerk assigned to jury duty who slowly reveals himself as a man with his own agenda, slowly taking control of the jury from the inside while his girlfriend and partner in crime Marlee (Rachel Weisz) applies her influence on the outside. With the jury in their grasp, they open the verdict to all bidders.

Part court room drama, part thriller with a social agenda (gun control), this is quick, digestible entertainment which reminds me of another Gene Hackman thriller Enemy of the State, in its use of high tech surveillance, which does go over the top with its various forms of bugging and clichéd tech talk.

The script is surprisingly sharp considering the number of screenwriters involved, while director Gary Fielder’s use of quick cuts and shaky cam will keep the audience on their feet.  

Runaway Jury contains a very good ensemble cast. John Cusack’s every day man shtick wins the audience over instantly as he twists the jury around his finger, Gene Hackman seems to be having fun with his Mephisto-esque role, and Dustin Hoffman - although a little hammy -  has enough tricks of his sleeve to put in a good performance as the lawyer struggling with a crisis of conscience.

In a scene specifically written for the screen, Hackman and Hoffman (two men who were room mates during their years as struggling actors, now multi Oscar winners) finally come face to face in a scene that is reminiscent of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino’s face off in Heat. It is a well written, deftly acted scene that is the definite highlight of the film.

The rest of the cast reads like a who’s who of character actors and personalities; Jeremy Piven, Bruce McGill, Jennifer Beals, Luis Guzman, Bill Nunn and Cliff Curtis all make an appearance, while the casting of well known television personality Dylan McDermont as the victim gives the films back story much depth.

A solid, run of the mill cat and mouse thriller, Runaway Jury is saved by a fine cast and a juicy twist towards the films conclusion.