813. Reversal of Fortune (1990)

Running Time: 111 minutes
Directed By: Barbet Schroeder
Written By: Nicholas Kazan, from book by Alan M. Dershowitz
Main Cast: Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close, Ron Silver, Annabella Sciorra, Fisher Stevens

THE CASE OF CLAUS AND SUNNY VON BULOW

Taking a respite from both "Frightfest 2011" and my ongoing taking in of the majority of the 1960s films, I decided to let my wife do the picking last night and after perusing through the streaming portion of Netflix, we finally landed on "Reversal of Fortune".

The film tells the story of Claus and Sunny Von Bulow. On December 21, 1980, while preparing for Christmas at their palatial estate in Newport, Rhode Island, Sunny Von Bulow (Close) was found unresponsive by her husband Claus (Irons) and taken to the hospital. At the hospital, it was deduced that Sunny was more than likely drugged and that an overdose of insulin was the likely the culprit. As the day's passed, it was also becoming more clear that Sunny was slipping into a persistent vegetative state. As Sunny lay comatose in a hospital bed, her children (Claus' step-children) hired a lawyer to investigate possible foul play, which they believed had been committed by Claus. The couple had been having marital problems, and in the event of Sunny's death, Claus stood to inherit $14 million. In court, Claus was found guilty and sentenced to thirty years in prion. This film tells the story of Claus' appeal, using flashbacks and showing multiple scenes in conjunction with multiple accounts of the same incidents. It could be argued that the films real main character is Alan Dershowitz (Silver), Claus' appeals attorney and really the focal character of the entire production. The film details Dershowitz' detailed legal work and the work of his assembled legal team, including Sarah (Sciorra), his prize student.

This probably won't be a particularly lengthy review, as I simply don't have a whole lot to say about this film. "Reversal of Fortune" met my expectations and it's as simple as that. I wasn't necessarily blown away, although I did find the performances, specifically those of Jeremy Irons and Ron Silver, to be phenomenal. Jeremy Irons was particularly excellent, earning his Academy Award statue ten fold. I wasn't disappointed by the film either, as it was as solid as a rock. However, I guess I was a little disappointed, in retrospect, that I didn't enjoy it more than I did. This is one that I've had my eye on for quite sometime and when it began streaming recently, I remember thinking that I wanted to watch it right away. It's the type of film that you'd expect out of Hollywood and it's definitely the type of film you'd expect to see getting nominations at the Oscars and the Globes.

I did, however, really enjoy the manner in which the story was told. I liked that they gave us different scenes from different character perspectives. I wish we could have got to see more scenes inside the courtroom, but actually, the manner in which things unfolded, worked really well. I liked that they made the focal point of the film Alan Dershowitz and let us get close to that character, which allowed me as a viewer, to have more of a neutral view of the whole Von Bulow incident. Had they simply let the story unfold, without the character of Dershowitz, then it would have come more naturally for me to pick a side, whereas with the "Dersh" character in there, it was much easier not to do that and just simply hear the story and take your sides at the end. For what it's worth, if anyone cares and simply basing this opinion on what was portrayed and told ON THE FILM, I leaned more toward the side of Claus' innocence. But then again, I have absolutely no knowledge of the real case, the real characters or the real situations, so that opinion isn't worth much.

RATING: 7/10 It wasn't really able to crack that '8' barrier and break into that upper echelon of film, but it was still a fine night at the movies and one that I'd recommend.

MOVIES WATCHED: 337
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 664

October 22, 2011 9:23pm