The Juror


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Details At A Glance

General
Extras
Category Thriller Theatrical Trailer(s) 1
Rating Other Trailer(s) None
Running Time 113 minutes Commentary Tracks None
RSDL/Flipper No/No Other Extras None
Region 4    
Distributor Columbia Tristar    
RRP $34.95    

 
Video
Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame No MPEG None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Dolby Digital 5.1
16x9 Enhancement Yes Soundtrack Languages English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
English (Dolby Digital 2.0) 
French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
French (Dolby Digital 2.0) 
Theatrical Aspect Ratio 2.35:1    
Macrovision Yes    
Subtitles English 
French
Dutch
Arabic
   

Plot Synopsis

    The Juror is a psychological thriller starring Demi Moore as Annie, a single mother, who has been selected for jury duty on the trial of Louis Boffano (Tony Lo Bianco) an alleged Mafia boss. He is on trial for two particularly gruesome murders, which we get to see at the start of the movie. Louis did not actually commit the murders, but he allegedly commissioned "The Teacher" (Alec Baldwin) to commit them. Annie has been selected by the Mafia to be the target of jury tampering, and we see the insidious way Teacher meticulously learns about her life and her vulnerabilities and exploits them ruthlessly, including threatening her son, Oliver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and her best friend, Juliet (Anne Heche). This includes breaking into her house and scanning her personal pictures using a nifty portable scanner, and planting a bug so that he can hear her conversations inside the house.

    Teacher keeps a very close eye on Annie throughout the trial, including during jury deliberations, and demands that she not only vote "not guilty" herself, but also convince the other jurors to vote the same way. The jury's verdict leaves Annie deeply emotionally damaged, and the remainder of the movie focusses on her attempts to gain redemption, freedom and safety for herself and for her son.

    This movie could be roughly divided into three sections; during the trial, during the jury deliberations, and after the trial, and all are equally exciting. The entire movie will keep you on a knife edge, with the only slightly slow moments early on in the movie as the characters are establishing themselves. There are number of plot twists, and double dealings, none of which you will guess before they happen, unlike the last movie I reviewed - Single White Female - which was a formulaic thriller if I ever saw one. Alec Baldwin delivers a stunningly powerful and extremely threatening performance as Teacher. I personally was amazed at the depth he was able to bring to the character. Demi Moore also shone as Annie. The supporting cast were excellent as well. All in all, this movie had me on the edge of my seat pretty much all of the time, and whilst the ending is almost predictable, the path taken to get to that ending is totally unpredictable.

Transfer Quality

Video

    This is a top-notch Columbia Tristar DVD transfer with nothing to complain about at all in the video transfer. The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer was razor sharp at all times. Shadow detail was superb, with no low level noise apparent.

    The colour was extremely well rendered. In particular, there was no oversaturation in the lower lit scenes, and in higher lit scenes, the colours were vibrant. All-in-all, the colour rendering in this transfer is perfect.

    No MPEG artefacts were seen. No film-to-video artefacts were seen. Film artefacts were essentially non-existent.

    This is a reference level video transfer.

Audio

    There are four audio tracks on this DVD. The default audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 channel, surround encoded. I won't repeat my usual rant about the silliness of having this as a default audio stream. Also present on the DVD is a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, which is the one I listened to, and both 5.1 and 2.0 soundtracks in French.

    Dialogue was always completely clear and intelligible, something which is particularly important in a movie such as this one.

    The musical score was often present, underscoring the action. It was composed by James Newton Howard, and is very chilling. It suited the on-screen action superbly, adding to the tension significantly.

     The surround channels were used for music, some ambience and some effects. As far as soundtracks go, the surrounds were not heavily utilized, with a lot of the movie up front and centre, but it was still a reasonable 5.1 sound mix, though it could have been more enveloping.

    The .1 channel was used to enhance music and special effects. It only had a light workout during this movie.

Extras

    The only extra on this DVD is the theatrical trailer, presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack (mixed in mono). I did note that very minimal cast and crew filmographies were included on the inside front cover of the DVD - maybe one day these might make their way onto the DVD itself.

Summary

    The Juror is a superb DVD. The plot is tremendous, and very very threatening. Alec Baldwin and Demi Moore are both superb in their roles. This is made more so by the fact that neither of them are painted as stereotypes, but are both well developed characters with their own characteristics and foibles. The Teacher is not a completely black character, and Annie is not a completely innocent, virginal white victim.

    The video quality is reference quality, with no artefacts seen.

    The audio quality is a little more up front and centre than is usual with today's mixes, but is still a perfectly good audio mix.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Michael Demtschyna
14th November 1998

Review Equipment
DVD Pioneer DV-505, using S-Video output
Display Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 16:9 mode, via the S-Video input. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Audio Decoder Denon AVD-2000 Dolby Digital AddOn Decoder, used as a standalone processor. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Amplification 2 x EA Playmaster 100W per channel stereo amplifiers for Left, Right, Left Rear and Right Rear; Philips 360 50W per channel stereo amplifier for Centre and Subwoofer
Speakers Philips S2000 speakers for Left, Right; Polk Audio CS-100 Centre Speaker; Apex AS-123 speakers for Left Rear and Right Rear; Yamaha B100-115SE subwoofer