Reversal of Fortune

Sunny Von Bulow (Glen Close) and Klauss Von Bulow (Jeremy Irons) are your atypical high society couple whose marriage is but obviously on the rocks. Sunny however is eccentric and doesn’t want a divorce knowing fully well that it is probably the only resort left. But she is unable to come to terms with the fact that she has had one failed marriage and the other one is also heading towards a disaster. Depressed, she takes to a life of alcohol and sedatives much to the chagrin of Klauss who is nothing but seemingly a mute spectator.

Things turn nasty when Sunny collapses into a coma one day but manages to recover quickly from that. Nevertheless, she refuses to learn and continues her wild ways smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day with endless alcohol and sedatives. The first instance itself has created a doubt in the minds of her children that Klaus is in some way responsible for the entire episode. The suspicion is enhanced when Sunny is found unconscious on her bathroom floor and has again slipped into a coma. Only this time, she does not recover from it as quickly as before.

Promptly, Klauss is taken into custody and based on charges framed by the children, is tried and convicted for the attempted murder of his wife. A decision which, obviously, doesn’t leave him too pleased. But being the millionaire that he is, he coughs up the million bucks of bail that is required to be borne and gets out of jail pending a judgement on the appeal. He then approaches Prof. Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) for help in defending him. Alan is a famed solicitor who teaches law at the local university and does a lot of pro bono work. But it is cases like these that get him the big bucks to subsidize his other philanthropic activities. Although he is in doubt over Klauss’ guilt, he takes up the case after much deliberation and starts roping in a few of his students to do the ground work for the same as quickly

Reversal of Fortune then tracks Alan’s attempts to punch in as many holes as possible into the prosecution’s case despite not being completely sure Klauss not being guilty. He does this out of a conviction that the methods used by the prosecution in proving Klauss guilty were not legally sound and could set a precedent which would have a whole other negative impact on society in general and therefore the legal fraternity. Director Barbet Schroeder (Single White Female / Desperate Measures / Murder by numbers) clearly captures Alan as the passionate lawyer who is also a single father, trying to ensure that the right messages are passed on to not only his students but society at large. The movie, at large, focuses on just this effort of proving Klauss innocent.

Ron Silver is probably best known for his roles in the TV series’ – Chicago Hope (Tommy Wilmette) & The West Wing (Bruno Gianelli) and maybe also for his performances in Live Wire, Blue Steel and Entity. He comes across as a very passionate actor. The only reason for not having made it big time in Hollywood would be his tendency to put in a bit too much into every scene. He does tend to over act a bit. Glen Close to me always has the wicked image that she managed to pick up around her Dangerous Liaison days. She does not have much of a role in this one. A Pity because she is such a versatile and extremely talented actress. Although her role in this particular movie is very muted to a few scenes and that of a narrator.

The stand out performance in typical ice cold fashion has to be that of Jeremy Irons who with utmost ease essays the role of a character who you would, in the spirit of the movie, like to be proven innocent. But in your heart of hearts, you really cannot decide with utmost conviction that he is. Irons’ portrayal of Klauss Von Bulow is yet another proof point of his capabilities as an actor and commitment towards getting under the skin of his character. Superb performance as always. Cant say it was his best but then with Jeremy Irons it is very difficult to choose a role which he has probably not given what the role demanded.

The rest of the cast is quite passé. Even Felicity Huffman in her bit part role as one of the students does not register with her performance. Decent movie to watch when u are down in bed on a working day unable to go to work. Not paced very well though. Survives on a couple of strong performances. Direction is not really any where close to being world class. Would give it a 5 on 10 at best.