MovieChat Forums > Runaway Jury (2003) Discussion > This movie annoyed the hell out of me

This movie annoyed the hell out of me

posted 16 years ago by Geropw
17 replies | jump to latest

I liked it, it was a good thriller and all but there are some things that really annoyed me.

First, I hate all this crap about "she's not in it for the money", well if she's not in it for the money then why is she suing for $10mil instead of seeking out to put the owner of the gun company in jail? The character in that movie is just looking to cash out on her husband's death. Same goes for Nicholas's girlfriend, who I also found horribly annoying and just another "brave woman standing up to the big boys" character, I mean seriously was I supposed to go all "wow how courageous! truly a role model for all women out there!" when she picked up the phone and asked for an extra $5mil?

You can already tell I really hate that character. Everyone in the movie was in it for the money. Yea her sister was killed with a gun some years ago and now she's seeking out revenge on the gun company and make a "change", and on the side she just happens to be trying to make a couple dozen millions while she's at it, even from the guy on her "side". It's like if a widow of a 9/11 victim suied the company that built the towers for $100mil for not making sure the structures were airplane collision proof, and saying it's "a matter of principle, not money, i'm not in it for the money, I just want to make sure nothing like this ever happens again", in which case I'm sure she'd appear more "not in it for the money" if she wasn't asking for money in the first place.

Also, on another subject, did it TAKE for Fitch's guys till the jury almost made their call to find out who they're about to send $15mil (in which case it was the sister of a gun crime victim), or did it only cross their minds at that point?

[–] Knoxvicious 15 years ago

omg, I know what you mean...

If my husband was killed because somebody freaking shot him, not only money would be the last thing on my mind but so would sueing the goddman gun company.
This movie was so left winged it was insulting.

It's great that those two wanted money to help that city after what happened, but to freaking bride people like that isn't right even IF it's for a good cause. Doing wrong like that.....it's like robbing a bank for a cause like that. I watched this movie only for Dustin Hoffman, but I was even disgusted how they presented him to be the "goody goody" all American working man, while they made Gene Hackman the mean evil Republican. Jesus....

Currently obsessed with: Jason Miller (The Exorcist)

[–] vpat48 15 years ago

Why does everything have to democrats and republicans for some of you? Aren't there enough real issues to deal with instead of worrying about fictional issues? Is it really that hard to accept a movie as fiction and spend a couple of hours enjoying no matter which side of the aisle you lie.

[–] koris-guy 15 years ago

She's suing for money because the level of proof needed in a civil court is a lot lower than that in a criminal court.

[–] chukkiesci76 15 years ago

Agreed. Another reason she's suing for money is because you can't sue for someone to be put in jail as the OP has suggested. She has no choice but to sue the gun company for "damages." The whole point is that her case is bigger than just her husbands death. As it's intended, it becomes about the 2nd amendment and the right to bear arms and the motives of the gun company.

And in regards to Cusack's girlfriend asking for $10 million, then $15 million from Fitch..... She's seeking money for her town in Louisiana. This town sued the gun company for a school shooting and the gun company won the case. They mention that the town lost a lot of money in the case. She's looking to use that money to restore her home town and, for lack of a better word, justify her sister's death.

[–] Sweet_Solitude99 15 years ago

I agree with you completely, chukkiesci76. My thoughts, exactly.

"Sometimes the only sane answer to an insane world is insanity." - The X-Files.

[–] Backlot_Manager 15 years ago

In other words, she lost, but being a poor loser, naturally she wants a "do-over".

[–] robitussin217 15 years ago

It's about money to the company. Say an automobile company releases a vehicle with a faulty breaking system and it comes to their attention in big numbers. They decide that rather than pay to recall the vehicles they will just let people get injured or die and pay the resulting lawsuits. When a member of the victim's family wins a giant lawsuit, costs the company a bunch of money and the execs go to prison for willful negligence other companies take notice.

The precedence sends the message.

[–] Backlot_Manager 15 years ago

However, the product in this film was not defective; it functioned as represented, and it was a legal product. It was like suing an automobile manufacturer for someone misusing another non-defective, legal product (a motor vehicle) that functioned as represented. Motor vehicle collisions kill far more Americans each year than bullets do, even though the vast majority of owners cause no injury with either product. She just wanted a do-over.

[–] rick03 15 years ago

WATCH THE MOVIE

every single criticism about this movie on this thread has been completely false. some have already been dealt with but heres another.

-"she just wanted a do-over"

yea she wanted a do-over, the first trial was fixed!!!!! WATCH THE MOVIEEEEE

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] boxerrebellion 15 years ago

I don't think they said WHAT was done with the $$; the additional $5 mil was to further convince the idiot that she was "working for him", and neither the widow nor Marlee had the ability to bring a criminal case, if the prosecuter wouldn't do it. On the other hand, they DID have the ability to hit the gun manufacturers where it would actually HURT - in the pocket, and their point would be better made by asking for more - that goes for any big business, and is not a political statement or opinion.

[–] mrboon 15 years ago

Only one annoying part for me. When Fitch's sidekick Doyle calls Fitch up from his car and tells him he's heading off to Gardner, Indiana to follow a lead this would surely have rung big alarm bells in Fitch's head? 'Gardner, Indiana? Oh yeah, I won a big gun case there and bankrupted the town.' That wouldn't have just slipped his mind and a man of his presumed quick intelligence about to wire $15m dollars to two 'chancers' would be suspicious as hell. He wouldn't have made the right connection but he surely would have been sus enough to smell a rat.

[–] triton986 14 years ago

At the university, Doyle learned that Nick was from Gardner. As he was driving, he called Fitch and told him he was off to some 'backwater town' in Indiana and would call him back. He did not specifically mention Gardner.

Later, after he saw Nick's and Marlee's pictures in the clippings from the Gardner shooting, he called Fitch to tell him NOT TO WIRE THE MONEY!! That's when Fitch asked him where he was, and he replied, "Gardner, Indiana!"

Still, I would think that Fitch worked only so many of these high-profile cases, and even an aside comment about Indiana should have gotten his attention.

(It's entirely possible that by 'backwater', Fitch may have flashed back to his prior bucolic days as a basketball head coach in Hickory, and he had been trying to get the disastrous relationship with Myra out of his head ever since!! :-) )

[–] PotassiumMan 15 years ago

This is my assessment.

Great acting, very good storytelling, horsesh-t message.

[–] d_henderson1810 13 years ago

Maybe she needs the money to support herself and her child, since the "main breadwinner" is not longer alive to support them.

Now I know someone as cold-hearted as you would say that she should just get a job, but she is entitled to raise her child, and give it a good life, since it wasn't her fault that her husband died. But, if you were in the same situation, I think you would do a similar thing.

Maybe you wouldn't be as self-righteous as you think you are!

[–] tel_meagain 13 years ago

The completely tortured convoluted unrealistic storyline is what annoyed me. I felt violated by the end as if my time and attention were worthless. I put a lot of effort into following that ridiculous twisty-turny ball of nonsense figuring there would be a worthwhile payoff at the end.
There wasn't.
It just plain stunk.
Worst thing I've seen since Waterworld.