Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Theatrical Release: 10/17/1990(USA)
Release Date: 03/13/2001
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: 2
Run Time: 112 Minutes
Flags: Mild Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
This film is a darkly
humorous, determinedly ambiguous adaptation of
Alan Dershowitz's book about his successful legal appeal of
Claus von Bulow's conviction for the attempted murder of his wife,
Martha "Sunny" von Bulow. Sunny (
Glenn Close) -- who remains in a "persistent vegetative state" resulting from a suspicious injection of insulin -- narrates the film, summarizing the first murder trial, which ended with
Claus (
Jeremy Irons) convicted and released on bail pending appeal.
Claus approaches Harvard Law professor
Dershowitz (
Ron Silver) to handle the case. Working with a small group of law students recruited from his classes,
Dershowitz presents sufficient new evidence to cast doubt as to
Claus' guilt and the veracity of the star witness, her maid.
Jeremy Irons' extraordinary, Oscar-winning performance dominates the film. He plays the role of
Claus with a alternatively pompous, aloof snobbishness and an engagingly enigmatic, kinky, sly humor.
Barbet Schroeder was also nominated for an Academy Award for his extraordinary, off-beat, direction of this sophisticated, exceptionally intelligent legal
drama.
Reversal of Fortune with its sharp, witty, Oscar-nominated screenplay by
Nicholas Kazan is unusual in its understanding that legal guilt and moral culpability are not the same thing -- making for an unusually provocative tragicomedy of bad manners and bad behavior among the rich.
~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
;)
