BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

AJSteele I discovered this film while searching for laserdiscs. It's a good way to find forgotten gems. TBJ is a crime film that never becomes tiresome mostly due to the fantastic emotionally alluring portrayal of a single mom by Joanne Whalley. She's your average girl stuck in a mess with a megalomaniac king pin. Fortunately for the viewer her body is not average, giving her character that added, "I don't know I'm sexy" vibe. Armand Assante turns in a great performance as he easily puts out charm and terror with a simple stoic glance. The root of the film which is the two worlds colliding, gets delivered with believability. The real gritty hoots of the film are William Hurt playing a twisted x cop that still has remnants of good in him and the ever delectable Kathleen Quinlan as a quirky sot. I really liked the script. The seedy undercurrent feel that the film has is captured with words that give an inner chuckle and a solid outer grimace. Some courtroom antics are quite stagey but those scenes can be muscled through if you like the genre. TBJ is not a routine crime thriller and throws some very interesting entertainment punches.

ccthemovieman-1 More often that not, I'll call a movie overrated, but this one, I think, is underrated. It features solid acting and a very involving story. There isn't as much violence as most modern-day crime movies and that's fine because this story doesn't need it. The profanity is also lower-than-normal. All that's missing is better cinematography.Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, Armand Assante, Gabirel Byrne and William Hurt all make this interesting and provide good performances. This is a good attention-diverting movie that is a good "date movie," too. It's tense without a ton of the usual overdone violence and profanity.

bob the moo Pirone (Armand Assante) is a mob boss being brought to trial by DA Graham (Gabriel Bryne). When the star witness is whacked Graham replaces him with another mob boss. Pirone targets once of the jury, a single mother Valerie (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) using dirty ex-cop Vesey (William Hurt) to get close to her. Valerie must hang the jury or risk her and her son being killed.This is a solid mob courtroom thriller with a edge. The story is interesting because you're not sure how Whalley-Kilmer will deal with the situations she is put in - it is quite tense for most of the movie. The actors are all good, Hurt especially plays against type with his shady dirty cop, Bryne does well but Whalley-Kilmer is not that good. Given the demands of the lead character Valerie it may have benefited from a better actress - that said she carries off the innocent single mother role convincingly. All the mob roles are played by actors who you'll see in lots of other gangster flicks including Goodfellas, The Sopranos etc. Some other interesting faces appear - William R. Moses of Perry Mason TVM "fame" appears as a jury, while David Cronenberg has a walk-on part as a film director.While Whalley-Kilmer doesn't totally convince in Valerie's character change towards the films conclusion the majority of the plot holds together well. If you've seen Demi Moore in "The Juror" then this is similar in plot but "Trial by Jury" is a much stronger film.

jallberg Nothing like the main-stream Hollywood thriller. The characters are actually notably changed by the shocking experiences they experience, and not just enraged.It is a rarely nuanced look into female psychology. Comparable to "Bound" in that sence. They don't "kick ass" they have other priorities, different goals, different drivers - but not so different methods...It's realistic, surprising and entertaining. The actors shows a depth which I miss in most Hollywood productions. Joanne Whalley-Kilmer and William Hurt are great - much better than their main-stream appearances.Take your time to see it. It won't change the way films are made, not break any records, but you are likely to come out with a different view on women.(Make sure to watch in 'Scope :-)Excuse my English.