The Stinking Pause Podcast – bringing you classic movie reviews since 2013 - some good...some not so good.

This week join Scott and Paul as they dive into the deep and murky world of jury rigging and a warm hearted tribute to the legendary Gene Hackman

Runaway Jury (2003)

Runaway Jury, the 2003 courtroom thriller that puts a quirky twist on the phrase “justice is blind.” Imagine a high-stakes tug-of-war featuring a scheming jury, a ruthless gun lobby, and two legal eagles circling each other like hawks. The result? A movie that’s less about legal jargon and more about who can outfox whom. When a widow decides to sue a powerful gun manufacturer after her husband’s tragic death, the case becomes the battleground for a manipulative showdown. Enter Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman), the principled attorney fighting for the little guy, and Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman), a corporate shark who’d sell his soul to rig the jury in his favour. But oh, wait—there’s a wildcard in play. Meet Nick Easter (John Cusack), a smooth-talking juror with a secret agenda, and his equally cunning partner, Marlee (Rachel Weisz). Together, they orchestrate a scheme to auction the jury’s verdict to the highest bidder. What follows is a game of cat and mouse with everyone trying to outsmart each other. Hackman’s Fitch pulls every dirty trick in the book, but Easter and Marlee are always two steps ahead, playing mind games and leaving breadcrumbs for Rohr to follow. It’s corporate greed versus moral righteousness, with a touch of audacious hustle thrown in for good measure.

 

"You think your average juror is King Solomon? No, he's a roofer with a mortgage. He wants to go home and sit in his Barcalounger and let the cable TV wash over him. And this man doesn't give a single, solitary droplet of shit about truth, justice or your American way."

 

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Scott and Paul