The Worst Film Ever

That was an excellent one.

Sorry, this movie sucks

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

It was a full time job to watch this movie. A lot of work. Did Gary Marshal direct it? Should I check my facts? Guh! Like a dry heave sound. Man this movie...was not fun to watch, that's the nice way of putting it. I mean when they read the script whoever they are did they know it was for THIS movie? It would be easier to let the magic eight-ball write the script. Forecast uncertain try again. Do you want to know the plot? If I don't tell you the plot and which actors play which characters are you not going to be able to understand my review? You know they list all that stuff of the IMDb movie's page, if you are reading this review you have already passed it.

Demi Moore plays Annie Laird, a single mother with a teenage son named Oliver(played by Joseph-Gordon Levitt) who is chosen to serve on the jury of a big mafia trial. Alec Baldwin plays a mysterious hit man known as "The Teacher", who is hired by the mob to intimidate Annie into insuring that the jury comes back with a not guilty verdict. After this is accomplished, Baldwin is still so taken with Annie that he can't let her go, escalating matters out-of-control as the whole scheme is threatened. Anne Heche is memorable as Annie's best friend Juliet,as is James Gandolfini as a mob associate.Though features good actors trying their best, and is surprisingly compelling to a point, it all eventually unravels due to over-length and implausibility of the characters, whose actions over the course of the film are increasingly unlikely.

Reading most of the previous reviews made me wonder... This movie is a thriller from the word go and total escapism, yet, many reviewers pretend a perfect script, a flawless sequence of events --life like-- without realizing that this is not a documentary, with dates, statistics and absolutely realistic situations.IT'S JUST A MOVIE!!Seat back and enjoy it!! there isn't more than that!!We are not watching an Ingmar Bergman or Antonioni film here. It's just a thriller, and as such, an EXCELLENT ONE!!I followed it in total concentration, being captivated by such superb actors and director and finding all scenes and sequences amazingly perfect.There is not a single word spoken unnecessarily and every one is always in character, plus a great photography and as eye candy Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin, two superb actors on top of being gorgeous.I found this movie above average for a thriller, surprisingly above average!!

This film is a great demonstration of why Demi Moore didn't have a more successful career as a top-level actress, though whether it was the fault of Moore or society is open for debate. She's a capable enough performer, but she lacks the ability to project either vulnerability or likability. With the former, you can trade on an audience's sympathy. With the latter, you can paper over the problems in a script or a production with your own charm. Moore's weaknesses are so clear in The Juror because she fails first at playing the victim and then can't entice the viewer to overlook the obvious melodramatics of the film's conclusion. She also stands exposed when compared to her co-star Alec Baldwin. He himself has always suffered from a lack of likability, especially in his dramatic roles, but Baldwin can manage a bit of vulnerability. His cold-blooded, criminal mastermind here is far more open and inviting than Moore's ordinary woman and mother.It's especially a shame because a different actress, one without Moore's emotional blind spots, could have raised this movie up from being slightly better than average and made it a truly thrilling thriller. Anne Heche is a perfect example, playing as she does a supporting role to Moore's lead. There's an unguarded energy to her acting that makes her characters so much more appealing than Moore's, who cannot radiate the same kind of joy and ease as an essential contrast to the more sullen and terrifying moments in the story. I'll confess to being more a fan of Heche than Moore, but I think my argument is supported by examining the roles and quality of work done by each woman in the years after The Juror.Annie Laird (Demi Moore) is a sculptress and single mother to Oliver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who essentially talks her way onto the jury of a major Mafia trial. That leads to her being targeted and manipulated by the brilliantly evil "Teacher" (Alec Baldwin), a Mafia associate who demands that Annie produce a not guilty verdict. She succeeds, only to find that the twisted romantic obsession of "Teacher" is far more dangerous than any aspect of organized crime.Putting aside Moore's deficiencies as the star of the show, this is a pretty good flick up until and ending that goes over-the-top and all the way to Guatemala. With James Gandolfini as a gangster that serves as sort of a midpoint between Annie's normality and the psychopathic nature of "Teacher", Ted Tally's screenplay put a lot of mostly effective effort into building an interesting dynamic between his two leads. And in the relationships between "Teacher" and other mobsters, Tally defuses the super-villain aura around his bad guy and makes him both more believable and more frightening because of that.And when Moore is able to play Annie as a strong and defiant person, her strengths as an actress shine through. Which brings up the point of why a woman can't build a career on playing strong, aggressive characters on screen? There's a legion of men in Hollywood history who duplicated Moore's lack of accessibility or possessed even worse flaws in their craft, yet were able to prosper in roles that didn't require or disguised their faults. But at least in American cinema, female roles are defined almost entirely by vulnerability, likability or f**kability. Moore has the last in spades but admirable avoided that career path. Maybe the problem isn't in Moore, dear friends, but in ourselves.All in all, I like The Juror enough to give it a mild recommendation. Heche does get naked in it and that's more than enough to tip the scales to the good for me.