Trial by Jury (film)

Trial by Jury is a 1994 American legal thriller directed by Heywood Gould and starring Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, Gabriel Byrne, Armand Assante and William Hurt.

Trial by Jury
Directed byHeywood Gould
Produced byJames G. Robinson
Chris Meledandri
Mark Gordon
Written byJordan Katz
Heywood Gould
Starring
Music byTerence Blanchard
CinematographyFrederick Elmes
Edited byJoel Goodman
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • September 9, 1994 (1994-09-09)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$6,971,777

Plot

Crime boss Rusty Pirone (Armand Assante) is about to stand trial again and Daniel Graham (Gabriel Byrne) of the district attorney's office is determined this time to put him behind bars.

Pirone sends one of his henchmen, a burned-out ex-cop named Tommy Vesey (William Hurt), to threaten Valerie Alston (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer), a juror. Unless she cooperates by finding Pirone innocent and deadlocking the jury, Vesey intends to do harm to Valerie's young son.

Eleven jurors vote guilty. Valerie incurs the wrath of the others, who feel Pirone's guilt is obvious. One by one, though, she begins to persuade others to vote her way.

Pirone goes free. Graham is furious and, when he discovers Valerie's role in the verdict, he begins to pressure her. Valerie is adamant that she has done nothing wrong and feels that she has protected her son, but Pirone won't leave it at that. He forces himself sexually on her and continues to make veiled threats against her life.

Vesey's conscience gets the better of him and he intervenes in an attempt by Pirone's jealous woman, Wanda, to have Valerie killed. Vesey dies in the act of saving Valerie's life.

With nowhere else to turn, Valerie decides to seduce Pirone at his home, then kill herself.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in Toronto and features a cameo by Canadian director David Cronenberg as a movie director.[1]

Reception

Trial by Jury received negative reviews from critics, with a rating of 8% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Year-end lists

References
  1. Klady, Leonard (September 21, 1993). "Real-life Rudy has Midas touch offscreen, too". Daily Variety. p. 19.
  2. Simon, Jeff (January 1, 1995). "Movies: Once More, with Feeling". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  3. Craft, Dan (December 30, 1994). "Success, Failure and a Lot of In-between; Movies '94". The Pantagraph. p. B1.
  4. Mills, Michael (December 30, 1994). "It's a Fact: 'Pulp Fiction' Year's Best". The Palm Beach Post (Final ed.). p. 7.
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