The Juror (1996)

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"The Juror" is largely a conventional thriller, and it's also too protracted (113 minutes) for its one-note story, but it's professionally done, and elevated by a very good cast. As the villain, Alec Baldwin gets to chew the scenery at times, but at other moments he gives his role an almost disturbing complexity; when he tells Demi's character that he loves her, despite the monstrous things he has done, you believe him. A deglamorized Demi Moore is convincing, and then we have James Gandolfini as Baldwin's family-man associate, Anne Heche as Moore's best friend, Tony Lo Bianco as a Mafia boss, and others in smaller parts. They make this otherwise predictable studio product worth seeing. **1/2 out of 4.

It was a full time job to watch this movie. A lot of work. Did Gary Marshal direct it? Should I check my facts? Guh! Like a dry heave sound. Man this movie...was not fun to watch, that's the nice way of putting it. I mean when they read the script whoever they are did they know it was for THIS movie? It would be easier to let the magic eight-ball write the script. Forecast uncertain try again. Do you want to know the plot? If I don't tell you the plot and which actors play which characters are you not going to be able to understand my review? You know they list all that stuff of the IMDb movie's page, if you are reading this review you have already passed it.

I'm surprised at the low IMDb rating for this film, because I think it's one of the better suspense films to be made. Perhaps it's because Demi Moore has lost her popularity, but this is a film to be savored.The overall script is pretty believable -- a mob boss is going to trial for murder, and Moore is the one juror his compatriots select to tamper with. Unfortunately, they choose a rather sick and obsessed colleague to deal with her -- Alec Baldwin. Moore succumbs to their threats in order to protect her son. Baldwin develops an obsessive love for Moore, and will do ANYTHING to have his way with her. After she "throws" the trial, Baldwin is not done with Moore...or her son. The climactic scene is especially taut.Demi Moore is great here...one of her best roles. Alec Baldwin, however, makes the film as the sleazy and obsessed lover/killer...he's truly evil here! James Gandolfini is pretty average as a gang member. Joseph Gordon-Levitt shines as the young son; he was a comer even as a child star (and his potential is more obvious today). Anne Heche...well, I never saw the attraction...and still don't. Tony Lo Bianco was good as the crime boss. Although his role was small, it was nice to see Michael Constantine as the judge.The exotic finale in Guatemala is an added treat.Highly recommended! A strong "7".

When Annie Laird is selected as a juror in a big Mafia trial, she is forced by someone known as "The Teacher" to persuade the other jurors to vote "not guilty".He threatens to kill her son if she doesn't commit. When the trial is over, he can't let her go...There are two big problems with this movie, they should have trimmed the ending by at least ten minutes, and Baldwin should not have got his motivation from the T-1000.There are times when he is so autonomous, you can almost hear the mechanics grinding in the background, which is a shame, because in the first act, he is really convincing, but when we find out he's the Teacher, it's as if he's expecting the audience to want him go that little more Psychotic.Moore is as good as she always is, convincing as the parent who is worried for her son's well being. But when Baldwin and Moore are on screen together, it just doesn't convince. You do think every now and again that they will get together at the end, but thats only because the fear factor that Baldwin had in the first act vanishes.Gandolfini is great in this movie though, and shows what a talent he is. Just a shame he isn't in the movie a lot more.There is some good camera-work and good performances, even from your token mobsters, who look like extras from Goodfellas.It's not a bad film, entirely watchable, just not plausible enough.