The Jury

The shame is that the first user comment anyone sees when reviewing The Jury is "Political Correctness (ya-aawwwn)", a review, if it can be called that, that more reflects someone with a beef taking a Political Science course and needing to use all the big words they learned to show how smart they are. While we all have the right to voice our opinion, I strongly feel this right should not prejudice the reader (or stop them, as it will some) before they see reviews that are more valuable. Any review that has one yes against multiple no's should be at the bottom of the review list.

Be that as it may, I have come to the Gerard Butler scene late (January, 2006) and because his acting ability struck me immediately and I'm interested in his progress (and why I hadn't heard of him until now), I've been watching his work. Doing that, I've come across some great movies (and a few that weren't so great). The Jury is in the great category.

I'm not going to describe the film, others have done so but I do want to note that the characters lives were well depicted. The frequent use of closeups made me feel like I was standing right next to each person, seeing what he or she saw, feeling what he or she felt. It was an awesome experience. I only buy a video/DVD if it has meaning and makes me feel something, hence I only have about 75 and this is over the past 20 years. I bought The Jury.

I set out to watch this 6 hour British mini series for one reason: I'm a huge fan of Gerard Butler's. I came away amazed at how really good I thought it was. The mini-series deals with the trial of a Sikh student accused of brutally killing a fellow student (and compelling evidence both for and against). And while it does indeed explore the trial itself, the beauty of this series is the exploration of the jurors and their lives (something rarely done). It takes 7 of the 12 jurors and shows what is going on in their lives (and by proxy, what their lives the last several years must have been like). You have the alcoholic just out of rehab the first morning of the trial (Butler), the single mother with her own "mom" issues, the seminary student torn between his love of God and his love of a woman, the old Catholic woman who is clearly lonely, the man who had lost his fortune a while back and is no longer financially well-off, the woman who is controlled by her ex-military and semi-crippled husband and last the responsible citizen who is pleased and overwhelmed at the duty placed on him (and who has the most clueless in-laws). You have the not-so-nice prosecutor (played admirably by Antony Sher) and the decent defense barrister (played well as always by Derek Jacobi). Almost all the characters are to some degree stereotypes, but it is how the actors portray them and the way they are written--the way these stories unfold--that is so special. These performances are just truly wonderful (notably Butler and the actors portraying the abused wife, the single mom and the duty bound juror) The ultimate outcome of the trial, while important, takes second place to the jurors' outcome and the central question: how difficult is it to reach a decision on guilt or innocence when you can NEVER really know?

I'm American and have been watching British drama for the past couple of years. I now prefer the more realistic productions than all the glitz and glamour of newer American shows.

We usually have no insight before starting a a series which was the case with The Jury. To keep it short and sweet, the production, the characters and the story were all well done. Each character had a unique story line and the whole series was easy to follow.

But one of the strongest compliments I can give the show was how the ending wrapped things up nice and clean. No uncertain twists that make you question the outcome. WATCH IT.

OK, I'm American, not a Brit. But would the judge really allow the yobbos in the gallery to continue to yell and harass the defendant? Certainly in this country, the initial offender would be banned from the courtroom, and if the disturbance continued, the gallery would be cleared.

And do jurors in a high-profile case really walk out of the courthouse in front of protesters? They go home at night rather than being sequestered, and they are allowed to read newspapers and listen to news reports about the trial?

The individual stories of the jurors are interesting, but the ridiculous portrayal of the courtroom ruins it for me.

Has anyone mentioned the music score for this? From the first shot of the courthouse dome, melancholy music perfectly sets the mood for what will come.

The Eastern (or Indian) theme and the drum at the beginning credits is haunting. During the seminary scenes, the mens choral is lovely.

Throughout a woman hums a beautiful, sad melody, through certain transition scenes and always at the opening of a new chapter. Whenever juror, Johnny Donne, is alone this theme emphasizes his loneliness and breaks your heart. A number of times we see Johnny arriving home and walking down a long corridor and opening his door, with this lonely theme playing. His AA prayer also has the music softly in the background.

During the Rose characters arrival back home each time, we see her getting off the elevator and walking into a blinding white light - to give us a jolt of the searing effort to walk back into that house of pain. The orchestra with an oboe(?) featured makes one want to cry.

During the foreman of the juries final scenes of frenzy in the tunnel the Indian song is just perfect - the wail and lament of a man driven to distraction.

And as the jurors all walk down the hill after the burial, the same woman humming the theme music makes for a melancholy finale.

For the performances, the great cinematography, and wonderful music themes, this a rare series from television that is as great as a movie. Gerald Butler as Johnny is a standout - so intense at times you quit breathing. I've forgotten the name of the actor who plays the Foreman of the jury, but he is also outstanding. The whole cast is superb.

A real jewel for anyones collection. 9/10