Reversal of Fortune
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.26 You Save: $9.72 (65%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.10 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Canada
Movie Reviews of Reversal of Fortune
Movie Review: A treat but you decide on the consequence
Summary: 5 Stars
I confess ignorance about the supposedly real world trial of Claus von Bulow (charged with the attempted murder of his socialite wife) that this movie is based on. May be it was just not that big of a deal outside the US. But the movie is a riveting thriller and a fascinating treat if you have a thing for courtroom drama. Faced with a client who he obviously believes is probably guilty, Alan Dershowitz (Bulow's clearly sly lawyer) resorts to one of the least respected of all legal tactics: blaming the victim. The film then escalates from a rather ordinary legal drama into an endless string of ad hominem against the character of Sunny von Bulow (played notoriously well by Close) who, being in a coma, is hardly in any shape to defend herself.
The film seems to have a pretty hardline posture, frequently suggesting that if Sunny von Bulow didn't cause her own misfortune, she certainly had it coming to her. Anything offered in defense of Sunny (testimony from friends/relatives) is swiftly discredited in one way or another. Is this an audacious bias in the script? Most certainly. So be prepared for it. But the jury does not seem to wilt. As though this is not enough to make you cringe, the comatose vegetable of a Sunny (in her coma bed) has words put into her mouth by the unscrupulous lawyer, a shady voice recording that is. How the lawyer could get away with this in a court of law is beyond me.
If I replace Bulow with OJ, and I doubt the story would change too much at least in the manner that this movie intends to potray it, I would actually find it a little taut, even villainous in its depiction of liberties with legal integrity.
But this is not a documentary, it is a Hollywood flick. Jeremy Irons in a quirky award winning performance is superb as usual. Glenn Close even from the stupor of her medical condition is fascinating. Dershowitz, the scum of the legal profession is, well, just that. In other words, great acting all round.
The climax is never found or attempted, it's left to your creativity. Was Bulow exonerated? May be. I read his criminal conviction was overturned. But in public opinion, after seeing this movie, I'd say not. Contours of the OJ trial.
As for the movie, a pretty decent, well paced fare and definitely a good evening's rental recommendation.
Movie Review: Sure Cure For Claus-Trophobia
Summary: 5 Stars
There is a scene in Reversal Of Fortune where Claus von Bulow, surrounded by a gaggle of well-scrubbed Harvard law students assisting with the case, starts reciting a few of the Claus von Bulow jokes that have cropped up during the trial. "What do you call the fear of dying from an overdose of insulin --- claus - trophobia." His delivery is refined, slow, and absolutely flat, no affect. The look of bemused horror on the faces of the students summarizes all the contradictions of this movie - they simply do not understand the man they're defending.
Jeremy Irons won an Oscar for this role - he deserved two. His narration and acting in Brideshead Revisited almost made casting him as Claus von Bulow an inevitability, he seems born to this role. That he appears so natural on screen is extraordinary because von Bulow is such an odd, complex, and thoroughly detached man. His veneer is like a lobster's shell, an exoskeleton; he smokes a cigarette with the same precision and care a surgeon would reserve for slicing brain tissue. It's clear that even a trial will not reveal what makes this man tick, and in the end it doesn't matter, he's just so much fun to watch.
Having the film narrated by Sunny was genius, and Glen Close too seems to have inherited this part rather than auditioned for it. Her looks and delivery are right on point; one wonders how different life in a coma is from life inside a depression fueled by booze and pills. Alan Dershowitz, played admirably by Ron Silver, provides the junkyard dog energy that fuels the picture - everything about him is in stark contrast to the refined mansions of Rhode Island where even attempted murder must be civilized, polite, and done according to form.
Flawless production values put viewers inside the rarified atmosphere, not just wealth, but wealth that has had time to age and grow soft with decadence. Few things please us more than when things go horribly wrong for the super-rich. This film satisfies on so many levels.
Movie Review: That Damn Encrusted Needle
Summary: 5 Stars
I do not remember the Von Buelow case as I hadn't been born yet. However, the psychologist who worked with the Dershowitz team (T.S.) is a family friend and I have heard him talk about the case several times. Many people close to the investigation believe Von Buelow was framed for a crime a he probaly did commit. Thus, because of the tampering with evidence by a special prosecuter hired by the state, Von Buelow was likely over-charged, or undercharged, and was found not guilty because of the tampering. For example; if two guys get into a fight in a bar, and one gets hurt a little more than the other, should the lucky one be charged with Battery, Assault, or Attempted Murder? In this state, Battery is 0 - 1 year, Assault is 2-10 years, and Attempted Murder is 20-life. Quite a difference. From that perspective, who could not receive a fair trial no matter what. When the defense learned that the needle apparently used to deliver the insulin was encrusted with evaporated water this was seen as a huge flaw in the governments case as the victims skin would have removed the water when the needle was withdrawn. That is, the skin would tighten around the needle, and wipe the needle point clean. As portrayed by Jeremy Irons (Best Actor) in his role as Von Buelow, the most striking evidence against Von Buelow, was Von Buelow himself. Many of Dershowitz's students expressed personal outrage Dershowitz would even consider championing the appeal. Von Buelow made up funny jokes about his wife's condition making it harder and harder to represent him. But this film sure does have class. Jeremy Irons, as Von Buelow, delivers a performance so good, that it's worth the price of admission just to see the master actor at work. Ron Silver fills the role of the complicated Dershowitz with equal care. Best Picture of'89 (?), Reversal of Fortune keeps viewers even unfamiliar with the case glued to the story until it's inlikely end. Direction is also outstanding. A true classic.Movie Review: Did Clause Murder Sunny For Her Money?
Summary: 5 Stars
Sunny von Bülow died finally a short while ago without ever having emerged from her coma that it was charged was attempted homicide by her husband Clause. He supposedly did it by injecting her with insulin. Claus knew he needed first rate legal help and ended up with Alan Dershowitz turning things around for him. Interesting as the law is in this film, the characters of Sunny and Clause are even better.
Sunny von Bülow is a hard woman to like. Glen Close's depiction doesn't make that task any easier. Ironically, Sunny in a coma isn't all that different from Sunny in regular life. Basically, Sunny took up space. She was neurotic, spoiled, used to getting her own way and never did anything worthwhile. If she hadn't been rich, no one would have noticed her. She spent a great deal of time asleep--actually, a huge amount of time asleep. And when she was awake, she was more like still half asleep. I think she could easily be described as someone who was sleepwalking through her life.
Which doesn't excuse Clause if he did try to kill her but it presents an interesting dichotomy. For Clause von Bülow is potentially very likable and Jeremy Irons captures that perfectly. He is self deprecating, humorous, a wonderful raconteur. People love dining out with Clause if for no other reason than they feel better because he is such a wit and so much fun. Clause is even very witty with Dershowitz, which takes some doing when you are battling attempted murder charges. He can be totally deadpan which makes him even funnier.
I don't know what Clause von Bülow did to his wife. He may have tried to murder her and then again, he may not. That isn't enough to make an attempted murder case. So no one will ever know. But of Clause and Sunny as people, there is no doubt in my mind that if you were arranging a night out, it would be Clause, not Sunny, you would want at your table.
Movie Review: Suspense worthy of Hitchcock even though you know the ending
Summary: 5 Stars
This film is far more than just the salacious filmed version of the tabloid scandal documenting Claus von Bulow's conviction and appeal on charges of twice attempting to murder his fabulously wealthy wife Sunny by injecting her with insulin. Von Bulow was wholly unsympathetic character, idle so-called `Eurotrash,' widely assumed to be slam-dunk guilty, even by the legal team representing him on appeal. The team's audacious strategy to directly attack the public presumption of guilt-to actually convince the appellate court that this evil man was innocent all along-bears a captivating symmetry to the way Jeremy Irons (playing von Bulow) takes the completely unlikable character and endows him with an almost charming ambiguity. He makes the same transformation take place within the viewer that took place among his attorneys. You begin the filming completely convinced von Bulow is evil incarnate, yet Irons somehow gets under your skin and makes you wonder....just maybe....could he be innocent....no, certainly not.....but maybe?
This transformation can be credited not only to Iron's Oscar-winning performance, but to Barbet Schroeder's magnificent and sensitive direction and the many other outstanding performances in the film. I loved the way the Schroeder visually contrasted the shadowy, languid, dark settings in the von Bulows' Newport mansion to the aggressive, skittish, vigorous young lawyers finding legal inspiration over games of pickup basketball played with cutthroat intensity.
Glenn Close, playing Sunny von Bulow, manages not to be overshadowed by Iron's performance even though her character spends most of the film in a coma. (Imagine, stunning acting without even moving your pinkie!)
In sum, even though we know the outcome from the start, the movie is a top-flight suspense movie, the best made in years. Somehow I imagine that Alfred Hitchcock himself would have been proud to call it his.