The Juror is a lurid little crime/courtroom thriller from the 90's that features Alec Baldwin in one of his then frequent asshole roles, Demi Moore in a solid lead and a startlingly young Joseph Gordon Levitt as her son. It's silly in places, sensationalistic in others, but manages to hold attention with its thrills most of the time, which are of the brash variety that only that decade could achieve. Moore plays a struggling artist who is selected as a juror in the trial of a high profile mafia Don (Tony Lo Bianco). No sooner than day one of the proceedings, she is harassed, terrorized and blackmailed by a nasty piece of work known as 'The Professor' (Baldwin), a boorish thug with delusions of eloquence, employed by the Don to see that the jury swings his way in the end. Baldwin tears into his role like a velociraptor, voraciously careening through the film like a bull in a china shop. Moore brings her introspective innocence, and Levitt is a bright eyed young chap in what is probably one of his first roles. James Gandolfini is a supporting standout as Baldwin's uneasy accomplice, and there's work from Michael Constantine, Matt Craven, Lindsay Crouse and Anne Heche as well. Won't knock your socks off, but a good time nonetheless, and worth a peek just to see Baldwin nearly give himself an aneurysm trying to out-crazy himself.

A surprise when I saw the ratings here! I watched without checking ratings first; I thought it deserved better. I liked the film on several levels: Acting (Moore, Gandolfini, Heche, and Baldwin), plot (plausible), and suspense (twists, timing, ending). That Moore apparently received the Razzie award for worst actress is simply incomprehensible – I thought she was completely compelling in her role as single mother who is threatened along with her teenage son by the mob unless she cooperates as a juror in rendering a not-guilty verdict for a guilty mobster. Baldwin is evil incarnate – on the surface charming, brilliant, handsome, erudite, sophisticated, spiritual, artistic – all of which makes him more frightening. He is as crazy as they come. Annie finds herself with an impossible dilemma: do as the mob says and save her kid and herself, or do the "right thing" and turn the mob in to the authorities, which would of course place her son and herself in immediate lethal danger. Rather than jump to a decision, she struggles; she goes this way and that, unsure, terrified. I think this is the way most of us would act if put in a similar situation. It is a monstrous choice, a Sophie's choice; there is no simple solution, and the film doesn't pretend there is. The plot interweaves in and out, with unexpected but fully explainable twists, getting ever more complex. I found myself wondering how Annie was going to get out of this mess – what's the answer to this terrible spot she's in, and how will it end? The film does a good job of making us care about how it ends. Baldwin's character is electric – once introduced, his presence is literally ubiquitous, with eavesdropping microphones and break-ins. At one point Annie finds a note left for her in her home: "I will always be with you." You sense he means it, and is completely able to carry it off. His psychosis has invaded her life like a cancer. My only hesitation to give it a higher rating is some rather inexplicable events at the climax ending, but given all that precedes it, easily forgiven. Otherwise, first rate. This is one scary film, one that will stay with me for a long time, and certainly the next time my name is drawn for jury duty.

When Annie Laird is selected as a juror in a big Mafia trial, she is forced by someone known as "The Teacher" to persuade the other jurors to vote "not guilty".He threatens to kill her son if she doesn't commit. When the trial is over, he can't let her go...There are two big problems with this movie, they should have trimmed the ending by at least ten minutes, and Baldwin should not have got his motivation from the T-1000.There are times when he is so autonomous, you can almost hear the mechanics grinding in the background, which is a shame, because in the first act, he is really convincing, but when we find out he's the Teacher, it's as if he's expecting the audience to want him go that little more Psychotic.Moore is as good as she always is, convincing as the parent who is worried for her son's well being. But when Baldwin and Moore are on screen together, it just doesn't convince. You do think every now and again that they will get together at the end, but thats only because the fear factor that Baldwin had in the first act vanishes.Gandolfini is great in this movie though, and shows what a talent he is. Just a shame he isn't in the movie a lot more.There is some good camera-work and good performances, even from your token mobsters, who look like extras from Goodfellas.It's not a bad film, entirely watchable, just not plausible enough.

Before I watched The Juror, I had one thought in mind. "This movie looks great". It had a great plot, great actors, and it was a crime film, which I enjoy. But sadly, this movie fails on almost all these levels.The acting isn't superb. But it isn't terrible. In fact, it's the best part of the film.The writing, forget about it. Terrible. Awful. The worst. The actors try so hard to make the dialogue sound good, but even with their decent delivery, it still sounds cheesy, uninspired, and stupid.It's almost like the movies spoofing itself.The movie is stupid, cheesy, uninspired, one-sided, with good acting.I would say see it for the acting. But there are hundreds of movies with better acting, and better writing! Go watch those.