The Juror ** (1996, Demi Moore, Alec Baldwin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt) – Classic Movie Review 1819

Director Brian Gibson’s 1996 thriller is tedious and artificial, with no relation to reality or real-life lives.

Alec Baldwin stars as The Teacher, a crazed mob killer who falls for a juror called Annie Laird (Demi Moore) whom he’s supposed to nobble in the big Mafia trial of a cardboard-cutout mobster (Tony Lo Bianco). The Teacher tries to forces Annie to persuade the other jurors to vote not guilty by threatening to kill her young son Oliver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Baldwin threatens and kills all and sundry, but Moore can stand it no more when he decides to kill her kid, and fights back.

For all the flash, bang and wallop, this is a nothing movie, with Moore looking understandably grim (her only expression here) and Baldwin stuck with a character so unsympathetic there’s just nothing he can do or nowhere he can take it, however hard he works at being athletic and menacing. The talented Ted Tally’s screenplay (based on George Dawes Green‘s novel) is very disappointing and the movie runs way too long at just under two hours.

The result is fairly horrid. But Anne Heche, James Gandolfini, Lindsay Crouse, Matt Craven, Michael Rispoli, Todd Susman, Polly Adams and Michael Constantine lead an excellent starry support cast. There’s nothing wrong with Moore’s performance and Gordon-Levitt is good as her kid. And Gibson directs slickly.

The US box office covered back the costs of $44million, but this was another sign that Moore’s career was in decline after her hits with Ghost, A Few Good Men, Indecent Proposal and Disclosure.

Matthew Cowles, who plays Rodney, died on May 22 2014, age 69.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1819

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