The Clairvoyant Zoopraxiscope

A new addition to the list: Runaway Jury... It seems, at least to me, that Grisham's novels make satisfying, if not lasting, movies. The sparky elements of the story--the mysterious cooperation of John Cusack and Rachel Weisz, the watch-ish object John Cusack keeps looking at, the explosions and odd occurrences that take place in the court room, the suh-thun accent of Dustin Hoffman--are interesting, but merit only a twinkle in the mind. The visuals are not remarkable, except for some sandbag-esque touches (when Rachel Weisz is sent flying into a wall of juror pictures, the ruinous quality of Cusack and Weisz's headquarters--which is justified at the end of the movie). What is gratifying is the beginning/middle/end of the movie, the sense of completion. It is a strange and somewhat unfortunate thing that an interest in plot or structure, if too large, immediately relegates an author to the sludge pile, regardless of any other qualities the author might possess. Grisham is nothing special, to be sure, and neither is the director who made this movie, but there is a grain of accomplishment here, evident at least on the morning after.