User reviews

Four cops protecting a prosecutor's witness are all murdered by mob hitwoman Wanda (Kathleen Quinlan) and her team. Prosecutor Daniel Graham (Gabriel Byrne) is infuriated that his case against mob boss Rusty Pirone (Armand Assante) is disappearing. He scrambles to find a new witness. Single mom jury member Valerie Alston (Joanne Whalley) is threatened by ex-cop and mob henchman Tommy Vesey (William Hurt).

It's a middling crime drama elevated by a few good actors. It's nothing to get excited about but it's a fine yarn. It starts with Kathleen Quinlan's unusual role. William Hurt gets to be a villain for awhile. Joanne Whalley may be a weak spot. One would hope for a rising star giving a standout performance. All in all, this is a run of the mill middling crime drama.

Joanne Whalley-Kilmer plays your average single mom raising her young son Bryan Shillowich who gets picked for jury duty. But what a case, it's of mob boss Armand Assante who is a hands-on kind of guy, likes to be in on his hits as he gets some jollies out of it.

In real life this jury would be sequestered, but Assante has had no problems getting to Whalley-Kilmer whom he has singled out as the weak link on the jury to possibly get them to acquit or even hang it at least. One of the people doing his bidding is a corrupt ex-cop played by William Hurt. As bad as he is Hurt does have a bit of a soft spot for Whalley-Kilmer.

Trial By Jury is a rather overwrought drama with a cast that gives it their best, but is defeated by a most improbable story. Some of the courtroom scenes are pretty good though with Gabriel Byrne as the Assistant District Attorney. He's gotten a nice collection of jailhouse witnesses who even if they weren't getting cut some good deals to convict Assante might just do it on their own. Assante is feared, but he's hated just as much.

For fans of the principal cast members, especially William Hurt.

TRIAL BY JURY has quite a bad reputation. It has a score of 5,3 and only 20 reviews to date, all this would lead to a terrible movie. As for me, I decided to watch it the day it was announced that William Hurt died and I had to celebrate his career somehow.

Valerie Alston (Joanne Whalley) is a juror on jury duty in a trial where Daniel Graham (Gabriel Byrne) is determined to put crime boss Rusty Pirone (Armand Assante) behind bars. After a failed trial Pirone sends an henchman, former cop Tommy Vesey (Hurt) for trying to get off his charges, and Vesey will warn Valerie that unless she cooperates the Pirone family will murder her son. So she hasn't any other choice than take her kid to grandpa (Stuart Whitman in one of his last movies) and hope that the jury votes her way while Vesey will have a change of heart and tries to protect Valerie.

With such an excellent cast full of well known names and that premise it could have been a good movie, right? Well, you are wrong. The plot was confusing most of the time and I thought they must have heavily edited it before the release, while the acting was probably the only good thing about this movie especially by Whalley and Hurt. The script too looked like it had lots of re-writes and at times the pacing was dull.

Overall, not that terrible but a misfire for the reasons mentioned above. There have been lots of great courtroom dramas and two years later they made a movie pretty much identical to this one but better: THE JUROR with Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin. This instead is only of interest if you are a fan of some members of the cast.

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.

A antique shop-owner in NYC, played by Joanne Whalley(Valerie Alston)gets put on a US District Court jury, on a trial of a known Mafioso Armand Asante(Rusty Pirone), and most of this very slow-paced film revolves around attempts of Pirone attempting to get Whalley to acquit him of murder, by threatening to kill her son, and herself. Much action ensues, involving gruesome mob-rub outs, interspread with Willam Hurt as the go-between. Much of this silly, disjointed mess surrounds Hurt and Asante's obsession with Whalley, courtroom scenes that we've all seen time and again, and an ending that is unbelievable. 3/10 is probably going easy on this waste of time.

In New York, Valerie Alston (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) is a single woman, who has a small son and is the owner of a store of clothes. She is convoked to participate of the jury of the trial of the mobster Rusty Pirone (Armand Assante), who will be judged for several murders. In the eve, the key witness of the prosecutor Daniel Graham (Gabriel Byrne) was executed with the four police officers that were protecting him by Pirone's men. Meanwhile, the ex-cop Tommy Vesey (William Hurt), who also works for Pirone, threatens Valerie, menacing to kill her son if she does not claim that Pirone is not guilty. "Trial by Jury" is not a bad movie, but it could have been a great film-noir. The first three-quarters of the story are indeed excellent. But there are two weaknesses in this film: the first one is the performance of Joanne Whalley-Kilmer. The character of Valerie lives a terrible dramatic dilemma and a very conflictive situation between her consciousness and the request of the mobster, and demanded a more expressive actress. Unfortunately, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer keeps the same expression in the most different situations along the story. The second weak point is the conclusion of the story, which is too much "Hollywoodian" to be credible. Anyway, this film is a good entertainment. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Tribunal Sob Suspeita" ("Tribunal Under Suspicion")

"Trial by Jury" has one of those deeply interesting premises when you hear it sounds like something new, fresh and exciting. Trouble is that the script turns and the way the movie is conducted leaves something in the air that makes you feel deeply torn about what you've just seen. I've seen it a few times (enjoyed a little on my first view; didn't impress on my second; but now, it's an okay movie that I can recommend). The appeal is due mostly to the cast and some great sequences that doesn't fade away in your memory so easily.

As I said, the story's premise is the main factor that pulls you in from the start. Valerie, an idealist woman (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) who firmly believes in the power of justice is selected for jury duty in this important cast involving a dangerous mobster, the menacing Rusty Pirone (Armand Assante, very good) who seems completely in charge of himself and the people around him despite facing a long-term prison for murder and other crimes. Pirone notices something in that particular female juror, and thus decides to ask to his comrades to find ways to get to the woman just to get one vote to unbalance the jury and the verdict, which will get him a new trial while the ambitious and dedicated prosecutor (Gabriel Byrne) doesn't uncover more evidences and more witnesses against the gangster. Meanwhile, Valerie has to deal with threats to her son's life and her own, on the hands of the mysterious Tommy Vesey (William Hurt), a man under Pirone's command and who pushes her to the limit in finding means to convince the jury that Pirone is innocent - even though the testimonies from the few witnesses already seem to convict the guy.

If the plot sounds familiar to you is probably because you've already seen it the non-official remake with Demi Moore, "The Juror", which isn't a better film, it just works better with the thrills in a more memorable and frightening way. But somehow "Trial by Jury", over all these years was the one I always wanted to look back. It's classy, heavily dramatic in the sense that I cared about the characters (even the bad ones), a lot more than "The Juror" was. Despite the mediocre performance by the leading lady, I always liked the fact the script doesn't transform her into a super smart girl who finds all the means and answers to her problems - except for the very final scene with the mobster, that transition is just awfully hard to buy. She has the classic look Pirone admires when required, convinces a bit as a devoted mom but when it's all about serious things happening, she fails a bit.

Another problematic aspect of the script, besides the slow development outside of the trial, deaths and threats sequences, is that we're not able to fully understand the real motive of the trial. They state that it was murder against a rival but it feels too cheap, more should be added and with more layers. While Byrne and Richard Portnow (as Pirone's talky lawyer, nice role by the way) conducts the whole circus with great presence, it's hard to understand the actual case because it's all torn in bits and pieces. Writers Heywood Gould (also the director) and Jordan Katz made it look too simplistic, just as much of the characters actions at times - why make the nice prosecutor such a clueless guy? With his character turned into a more investigate man, the twists and turns of the film would pay-off a lot more.

As for the three main guys, Assante dominates the screen with great presence; Hurt makes an excellent use of his calm voice both to threat and to make sure to Valerie that, in some ways, he can help her; and Byrne makes a good job as Pirone's biggest nightmare - their scene at the restaurant is priceless. Mention must be made to Kathleen Quinlan as the sexy and killer lady from Rusty's team.

Involving drama and average thriller, "Trial by Jury" succeeds a little even with that strange lack of balance. Not a bad way to spend the time. 7/10

It´s long time that I and my wife didn´t see such a boring thriller. It´s definitively NOT a gripping story and it is paced so slowly that we nearly fell asleep. This could be instead a very low budget TV crime series. There are some ridiculous scenes like the one where mafia boss Pirano wants to see the jury lady in a red clothes or another mafioso cannot stop to think about her and so on. Okay perhaps this should have been a romantic thriller but believe me you really don´t miss anything. We gave 4/10.

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.

This improbable thriller about a woman juror (Whaley) who is kidnapped (and worse) in order to coerce her into voting to acquit a mob boss (Assante) who is on trial for murder, was better than I expected it to be. The plot is preposterous but the performances are excellent, particularly Hurt's as an alcoholic ex-cop who does part time work for the mobster. The appropriate time to watch this movie would be Saturday morning. Nevertheless, it is all right. I gave it a "6."

(1994) Trial By Jury CRIME DRAMA/ THRILLER

Very standard crime drama co-written and directed by Heywood Gould, whereas at the beginning of the film, a witness gets himself killed while in police protection custody, sent by gangster Rusty Pirone, laughbly played by Armand Assante! Then the real story begins, starting with the Joanne Whalley character as Valerie Alston whose being slated for 'jury duty', on a case involving Rusty whose accused of several murders, random hits and assassinations. Placing Valerie and her oblivious underage son to get threatened, unless she sways her vote as well as others to vote for his acquittal, even though the evidence was heavily against him, putting her into a very complicated situation. Dumb, stupid and fake, whereas there's no surveillance on the accused gangster, except on one lawyer, Daniel Graham (Gabriel Byrne) who appears to be the only person who could do something, not the police or anybody else, which includes the FBI, portraying police men as incompetent and almost nonexistent! A film that is supposed to generate some excitement but acts like a drama than as a thriller. Pretentious with plenty of loopholes, also starring is Oscar Award winner William Hurt as an corrupted ex-cop whose acting talents is totally wasted.

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.

High profile New York mobster Rusty Pirone (Armand Assante) is put on trial for the murder of 11 individuals with the case spearheaded by ambitious District Attorney Daniel Graham (Gabriel Byrne). Seeking to secure his freedom by any means necessary, Rusty having already dispatched the prosecution's star witness sets his sights on creating deadlocked jury by extorting one of the jurors, in this case single mother Valerie Alston (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer). Rusty sends former cop turned freelance enforcer Tommy Vesey (William Hurt) to put pressure on Valerie to vote "not guilty" with the threats of murder towards her son Robbie (Bryan Shilowich).

Trial by Jury is a 1994 legal thriller directed by Heywood Gould and co-written by Gould and Jordan Katz (who wrote the original screenplay under the titles The Hanging Jury and Deadlock). The film takes inspiration from the 1987 incident wherein George Pape, a jury foreman in a 1987 trial of John Gotti, sought out Gotti's underlings, who agreed to pay him $75,000 in exchange for a not guilty vote. The influence of the incident is pretty clear down to the character of Rusty Pirone being a pretty clear analogue for Gotti (and the casting of Assante who would play Gotti a mere two years later in an HBO TV movie). Made by Morgan Creek on a frugal budget in Canada, the movie was originally intended to be a much larger production with Phillip Noyce originally slated to direct and the role of Valerie considered for the likes of Jodie Foster, Nicole Kidman, and Demi Moore (who'd ironically do a very similar movie called The Juror two years later). The role of Pirone was also offered to more name actors such as James Woods and John Travolta but both demanded salaries that Morgan Creek wasn't willing to pay hence why the ultimate casting was left without many big names. With no real big stars the film's distributor, Warner Bros., put the bare minimum to marketing the film and unceremoniously in a mid September release where it opened in fourth place behind some Summer holdovers (one of which was Noyce's Clear and Present Danger) with the film disappearing from theaters within two weeks. What critical reception there was tended to skew negative with many critics criticizing the dialogue and performances of the cast. While some of the critical derision of the film has been overblown, Trial by Jury is a mostly unengaging potboiler drama that harkens back to the B-movie noirs of RKO.

On the surface you seemingly have all the elements in place for a pulpy and engaging courtroom thriller with a ripped from the headlines premise inspired by a notirous case of Jury Tampering by the mafia and a high concept hook of a single mother terrorizing into voting to acquit a violent, manipulative, and sadistic murderer, but it's all the little pieces that make the film unravel with the biggest issue undeniably being in the casting. Having spoken to people involved in the production it's clear this was originally intended to be a bigger film than it with attempts at trying to court the likes of Nicole Kidamn, Jodie Foster and Demi Moore for the role of Valerie or James Woods and John Travolta for Rusty, and you get the sense that the casting is made up of the second, third, or even fourth choice on the list because the others either weren't available, unaffordable, or turned them down.

Joanne Whally-Kilmer (as she's credited in the movie) was in a number of films throughout the 80s and 90s typically in a supporting capacity but was most known for her work on British TV such as the serial Edge of Darkness. While Joanne Whally-Kilmer has been fine in some prior work, she's really not capable of doing lead roles and it really shows just how unequipped she was to take on a role that was written in mind with some of the most notable actresses of the 90s and she just doesn't sell it here especially in one scene where she gives an unconvincing emotional collapse that feels forced and unnatural. As for the rest of the cast they're all working with what they have. Rusty Pirone isn't all that interesting as a gangster, Gabriel Byrne isn't all that interesting as the DA (in fact Byrne was a late in the game last minute addition), and while Hurt is clearly trying his all in the role the character of Vesey isn't all that clearly defined and his heel turn and infatuation with Valerie feel really underdeveloped.

Trial by Jury is what it is, movie of the week material that's given just enough spit and polish so that it technically works on the silver screen. Maybe if the material had the actors the production team wanted maybe I'd be saying something different, but with the movie built around an actress like Joanne Whally-Kilmer who just isn't suited to a role of this magnitude and filled with uninteresting archetypes it's the kind of movie that's in one ear and out the other. I don't think I agree with the assessments that put this on their year's worst list (for my money Silent Fall is way worse as a thriller) and aside from some very "90s" takes on homosexuality it's a very typical thriller that just happens to be built around an unqualified lead.

Armand Assante plays his stereotyped interpretation of a suave mob boss to perfection. He is also on trial for murder, and looking for an edge to counter some underhanded moves by the District Attorney. Threatening to kill a vulnerable juror's child Assante's intimidation works to perfection, but Joanne Whalley-Kilmer is haunted by hanging the jury. After the first half, which is all about the trial, the film shifts into revenge mode, and is more of a simple cat and mouse game. The trial scenes are somewhat better than what follows, and the conclusion is not only a real stretch of believability, but seems rushed. This is no blockbuster, but is totally watchable, and comes across as one of the better jury tampering types. - MERK

This film is so much better than The Juror. William Hurt is outstanding as a conflicted man, Kathleen Quinlan is amazingly creepy in her role, the tension between Joanne Whalley-Kilmer and the others, Armand Assante in particular, is emotional and well done. You will feel her isolation and fear. You will feel Gabriel Byrne's frustration as he tries to catch the mob boss and and work within the law only to have the legal system perverted by the influence of that mob. You will see how his character, who grew up with the mobster (Assante) could easily have gone in that direction. It has a great supporting cast with people like Joe Santos, Ed Lauter and Margaret Whitton. The film is also done in a film noir style. If you like classy films, you'll love it.

"Trial By Jury" is one of the better psychological thrillers I have seen because it sucks the viewer in with each scene. As I began to watch this film I noticed that it had elements of "12 Angry Men" and "The Juror," both of which were great movies, therefore I knew this would be of the same caliber.

The film stars Gabriel Byrne, Armand Assante, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer and William Hurt. They all bring a style to the film that can only be matched by the brilliant ways of making it believable. I found all the actors were playing a different from what they were accustomed to, which was a real treat because if actors play the same thing over and over it gets boring.

This a legal thriller that plays around with the mind and when movies do this you can only hang on for the ride. Kilmer delivers an awesome performance as the terrified juror. It made me sit up and take a look at how talented she is. For example, in the climax of the movie she is at her best, but you will have to see the movie.

Speaking of performances, the one turned in by Gabriel Byrne made me a fan of his work because he showed that he has a passion making movies and making them good. In "Trial By Jury" he never let up in his pursuit of justice.

"Trial By Jury" was a very slow movie but it is well worth the wait. I hope everyone likes it as much as I did.

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.

TRIAL BY JURY is an example of a movie that doesn't realize how funny it is. Take the scene where Joann Whalley-Kilmer is seduced by Armand Assante, although he is leering at her sleazily the whole time Assante is on trial.(she is a jury member, see) Then things get real silly with all the plot twists, and a real hammy slow-burn performance by Gabriel Byrne. I caught the film one day on pay cable, and once again recently on TNT, and the funniest thing was, the actors kept a straight face the whole time.

Which brings me to Whalley-Kilmer. Who gave her this Ashley Judd part? Not to say that Whalley-Kilmer isn't game in her part as the dumbest-smartest jury member in the world. But Judd is much better at making these unbelievable legal "thrillers" bareable(i.e. DOUBLE JEAPORDY). I love when Hollywood makes a film that it doesn't know is as funny as it is.

A really interestingly plotted and well acted movie with real twists. I liked the moral perspective of the movie, which is not straightforward and gives you a lot to chew on. Underrated and definitely worth watching. The dialogue was snappy and the movie has a lot of velocity. All of the performances are good but William Hurt is noteworthy, as is the actress who plays Valerie. It's also a nice portrait of nyc at a time of transition from the grittier 80s to the glossier 90s . This movie deserves more notice as a thriller than it gets. The dialogue is also snappy and to the point. It definitely has some surprises alone the way.

This is such a tight, solid, slick, courtroom drama, which I feel warrants much more attention. A highly effective thriller with some truly scary, fear driven moments, which has sexy single mum juror (Joanne Whalley) in a job which pays, 40 bucks a day, her personal life and safety, compromised, when being part of a jury, called to put away a notorious mob figure, a very believably threatening Assante. She never anticipated this kind of case, and soon wish she never took this extra job. What was she thinking? So the frighteners and bolts are put on her from unsavory parties, notably Hurt, again, never disappointing, in a interesting and engaging performance, somewhat of an engrossing character. Quinlan as his mistress and bad apple collegue, has never been sexier. But of course it's Joanne Whalley who feasts our eyes. I was quite impressed by this thriller, as it has some real slick moments as of the lengths of what protagonist, antagonist, go to. Music is perfectly fitting, score, somewhat painfully reminiscent of Silence Of The Lambs. I really loved Gabriel Byrne, as the prosecutor, who has a hard on for burying Assante. Although some other courtroom thrillers spun off of this premise, I was sheerly entertained by this exciting little drama, with many strong performances It has color, suspense, and actors who deliver, Whalley, Byrne, and Hurt, as well as Quinlan. It also shows too, to an extent, good and bad parties, plans of attack. Don't pass up this one. It would call for a mistrial.