Runaway Jury

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Rotten Tomatoes® Score
73% 75%

Release Date: October 17, 2003

On DVD/VOD: February 17, 2004

2h 7m | Drama, Thriller

When a young widow in New Orleans brings a civil suit against the powerful corporate consortium she holds responsible for her husband’s murder, she sets in motion a multi-million 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.

Representing the widow is Wendall Rohr (Hoffman), a courtly Southern lawyer with a moral center and a heartfelt passion for the case he’s presenting. His opponent is ostensibly the attorney representing the corporation. But in reality, the defense counsel is only the front man for Rankin Fitch (Hackman), a brilliant and ruthless jury consultant.

At a high tech command center set up in an old French Quarter warehouse, Fitch and his team work on the surveillance and assessment of potential jurors. He will know everything about their lives, and strategically manipulate the jury process. Fitch and Rohr soon realize they’re not the only ones out to win the jury. One of the jurors, Nick Easter (Cusack), seems to have his own plan for swaying the panel. And a mysterious woman known only as Marlee (Weisz) contacts both Rohr and Fitch telling them the jury’s for sale to either of them – and that verdict won’t come cheap.