Trial by Jury

TRIAL BY JURY is an example of a movie that doesn't realize how funny it is. Take the scene where Joann Whalley-Kilmer is seduced by Armand Assante, although he is leering at her sleazily the whole time Assante is on trial.(she is a jury member, see) Then things get real silly with all the plot twists, and a real hammy slow-burn performance by Gabriel Byrne. I caught the film one day on pay cable, and once again recently on TNT, and the funniest thing was, the actors kept a straight face the whole time.

Which brings me to Whalley-Kilmer. Who gave her this Ashley Judd part? Not to say that Whalley-Kilmer isn't game in her part as the dumbest-smartest jury member in the world. But Judd is much better at making these unbelievable legal "thrillers" bareable(i.e. DOUBLE JEAPORDY). I love when Hollywood makes a film that it doesn't know is as funny as it is.

More often that not, I'll call a movie overrated, but this one, I think, is underrated. It features solid acting and a very involving story.

There isn't as much violence as most modern-day crime movies and that's fine because this story doesn't need it. The profanity is also lower-than-normal. All that's missing is better cinematography.

Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, Armand Assante, Gabirel Byrne and William Hurt all make this interesting and provide good performances. This is a good attention-diverting movie that is a good "date movie," too. It's tense without a ton of the usual overdone violence and profanity.

Pirone (Armand Assante) is a mob boss being brought to trial by DA Graham (Gabriel Bryne). When the star witness is whacked Graham replaces him with another mob boss. Pirone targets once of the jury, a single mother Valerie (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) using dirty ex-cop Vesey (William Hurt) to get close to her. Valerie must hang the jury or risk her and her son being killed.

This is a solid mob courtroom thriller with a edge. The story is interesting because you're not sure how Whalley-Kilmer will deal with the situations she is put in - it is quite tense for most of the movie. The actors are all good, Hurt especially plays against type with his shady dirty cop, Bryne does well but Whalley-Kilmer is not that good. Given the demands of the lead character Valerie it may have benefited from a better actress - that said she carries off the innocent single mother role convincingly. All the mob roles are played by actors who you'll see in lots of other gangster flicks including Goodfellas, The Sopranos etc. Some other interesting faces appear - William R. Moses of Perry Mason TVM "fame" appears as a jury, while David Cronenberg has a walk-on part as a film director.

While Whalley-Kilmer doesn't totally convince in Valerie's character change towards the films conclusion the majority of the plot holds together well. If you've seen Demi Moore in "The Juror" then this is similar in plot but "Trial by Jury" is a much stronger film.

Joanne Whalley-Kilmer plays your average single mom raising her young son Bryan Shillowich who gets picked for jury duty. But what a case, it's of mob boss Armand Assante who is a hands-on kind of guy, likes to be in on his hits as he gets some jollies out of it.

In real life this jury would be sequestered, but Assante has had no problems getting to Whalley-Kilmer whom he has singled out as the weak link on the jury to possibly get them to acquit or even hang it at least. One of the people doing his bidding is a corrupt ex-cop played by William Hurt. As bad as he is Hurt does have a bit of a soft spot for Whalley-Kilmer.

Trial By Jury is a rather overwrought drama with a cast that gives it their best, but is defeated by a most improbable story. Some of the courtroom scenes are pretty good though with Gabriel Byrne as the Assistant District Attorney. He's gotten a nice collection of jailhouse witnesses who even if they weren't getting cut some good deals to convict Assante might just do it on their own. Assante is feared, but he's hated just as much.

For fans of the principal cast members, especially William Hurt.

I discovered this film while searching for laserdiscs. It's a good way to find forgotten gems. TBJ is a crime film that never becomes tiresome mostly due to the fantastic emotionally alluring portrayal of a single mom by Joanne Whalley. She's your average girl stuck in a mess with a megalomaniac king pin. Fortunately for the viewer her body is not average, giving her character that added, "I don't know I'm sexy" vibe. Armand Assante turns in a great performance as he easily puts out charm and terror with a simple stoic glance. The root of the film which is the two worlds colliding, gets delivered with believability.

The real gritty hoots of the film are William Hurt playing a twisted x cop that still has remnants of good in him and the ever delectable Kathleen Quinlan as a quirky sot. I really liked the script. The seedy undercurrent feel that the film has is captured with words that give an inner chuckle and a solid outer grimace. Some courtroom antics are quite stagey but those scenes can be muscled through if you like the genre. TBJ is not a routine crime thriller and throws some very interesting entertainment punches.