La jurée

I am not a big Demi Moore fan and seeing this movie wasn't top priority but afterwards I was very pleased with the outcome. This is, by far, Demi Moore's best film to date as she shows so much emotion as a single mother stuck in a difficult position between working for the mafia in order to save her family and herself. Moore truly deserved an Academy Award nomination if not a win, and the Razzies were very out of line by giving her Worst Actress for this (it was moreso for "Striptease" and that also wasn't that bad...a thing about the Razzies, they don't know what the hell they're talking about half the time). Alec Baldwin is pretty good as the villain and Anne Heche gives all she has as the token best friend. Ted Tally's ("Silence of the Lambs") script is riveting and keeps you on the edge of your seat. A great suspense film with a great performance by Demi Moore...see it and believe it. 8/10

This Juror isn't as bad as some reviewers might make it out to be. Granted it is a bit protracted and could be called disjointed as well but it's not devoid of any intensity. Overall its a mediocre thriller but what sets it apart,in the eyes of this reviewer,is Alec Baldwin's performance. Most good actors give some of their best work as villains and Baldwin is well cast in the role of a psychotic hitman. While sometimes a great performance is really more of a great character, this is a case of a passable role that is brought to life by the actor. Who also revitalizes the entire film.

Excellent: Demi Moore, cinematography. The suspense-parts are generally well done, for example where it is not clear whether the boy on the bicycle will be killed or not.

General plot: Unfortunately the genre where the good person does nothing right and the bad person does nothing wrong. And innocent friends also get killed in the process. Then suddenly in the last 5 minutes the good person amasses incredible logistics and action, and the bad guy dies. Better would have been some more intellectual input throughout the film from the heroin, such as that she gradually finds out where he hid microphones, and realises that he has her address list, and so warns her friends what is going on.

A movie with this much pedigree should have been better. Solid acting all around, competent direction, a better than average script from Ted Tally, somewhat fresh off his Oscar win for Silence of the Lambs.

It's just that nothing really happens. Or not much, at least. The beginning is taut and engaging. But then it plods through until the extremely predictable ending. And how they missed the opportunity not to hang the bad guy at the end, given the San Simon reference earlier, I don't know. I guess they wanted one less than obvious thing in there. Pacing is the biggest problem here, along with the lack of action. 20 minutes should have been hacked off the final product and this could have been quite a bit better.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and am at a total loss as to why it scored such a low vote. I guess these days a movie just can't be a big hit unless it has lots of fancy special effects and sex scenes. 'The Juror' has a strong, easy to follow plot and some really great acting; Alec Baldwin's role was terrifyingly real! I'm no fan of Demi Moore, but she played her part very well. And the kid that played her son was equally great -- I remember him from the TV series 'Third Rock from the Sun' and always liked him. To anyone thinking of renting this flick, I say pay no attention to the naysayers and go for it!