For surely this 1992 movie is just terrible. What a waste of capable talent. This proves even good actors can't salvage bad material. I give this a 2 count, for the presence of such as: Jason Robards, Piper Laurie, James Spader and the great Woody Strode in an almost unrecognizable part, and for seeing parts of New Orleans that may be gone at this point of time.
The plot seems very silly. Adapted and directed by Mark Frost from a novel called JURYMAN, it wandered aimlessly between the courtroom and Bourban Street. Spader, our lead, seems to have no sense at all and walks into one setup after another. Can't he see this can ruin his career as a prospective Senator? Wandering all alone in the seedier parts of town, getting out of a car to check out an abandoned truck only to be attacked by our hidden villains, allowing a pick up to toss him all over the place, and not one thought how this can ruin him. Silly and stupid.
Piper Laurie, his "mom" either is high on drugs or she's blind. She never looks anyone in the eye. She seems to stare into space most of the time. Robards yelling and over acting in his thankless role, Parks shooting it out in the courtroom and not stopped until he has wounded just about everybody. Only two cops there to stop him? And Steve Forrest, looking very distinguished in white hair, as the judge, pulls out a revolver at the bench and gets Parks finally. Judges carry firing arms at the bench? No reasoning in this film.
Spader is sort of walking around saying "duh" most of the time. Only redeemable factor is to see Woody Strode in yet another thankless role, but he seems the only one focused in this drama. Charlotte Lewis is the femme fa tale who seduces our hero and then gets accused of her father's murder. Her character made no sense at all. Was she a set up? Was she a hooker? She was so obvious in her make for Spader. Not the most attractive person to be such a temptation as to bring a future Senator out on a rainy night into the dark and dingy world of prostitution. My vote goes to Strode and to the French Quarters of New Orleans which we hope will come back to it's beauty after the devastating hurricanes that hit it recently. Here's to that spirit.
