"Reversal of Fortune"
We have laws in place for a reason. Lawyers, judges, juries, they all serve a purpose in our society. Sometimes though the court system can be let's say... funny. Reversal of Fortune is a film that flips our judiciary on its head in hopes of favoring one Mr. Claus Von Bülow (Jeremy Irons.) He believes he was wrongfully convicted of crime he did not commit. When Von Bülow's wealthy wife Sonny (Glenn Close) is put into a vegetative state, many questions arise from how she got to be in her seemingly permanent coma. Was Sonny's coma self inflicted or was her husband up to something much more devious? A jury convicted Claus of being the one solely responsible for his wife's condition. This forced Mr. Von Bülow to enlist the help of attorney Allen Dershowitz (Ron Silver) to represent him in an appeals case to overturn his attempted murder conviction.
Based on actual events from Dershowitz's novel of the same name, Reversal of Fortune is a legal thriller that brings the phrase, "innocent till proven guilty" to mind. Is Claus Von Bülow actually guilty, who's to say? Dershowitz and his crack team of law students make a compelling case for Claus whilst trying to withhold any prejudices of their own they may have about him. The film is told in a series of past and present sequences showing us the sparse ups and the myriad of downs in the Von Bülow marriage. There are also scenes of Dershowitz and his crew compiling sufficient evidence that they believe will hold up in court. These are all intertwined together to create a complex web of possible truths, half truths, and lies.
The source material here is quite good because it shows us an instance in the breakdown of the United States court system. The dialogue we are treated to through the sublime performance from Irons is interesting to listen to. Here is a man who has clearly been in an unhappy marriage for quite some time which leads us to think he was one who did the unthinkable. This is merely scratching the surface. While the film does take us in different directions, we don’t ever feel jerked around or toyed with. Von Bülow is at his most vulnerable state but he never lets us see that. Irons plays a real charmer. Claus is cool, calm, and collected through the whole ordeal. There's an air about him that leads us to believe he knows exactly what he's doing. To describe Von Bülow as creepy would be too strong of a word, but unsettling or even better, strange is more appropriate.
Irons and director Barbet Schroeder give us an unforgettable character with an interesting story line that's a cut above the average legal thriller. This is a more than just the issue of right and wrong. It's not about beating the system but rather showing cracks in the judicial process when the evidence is dreadfully insufficient. Dershowitz is up for the challenge no matter the moral cost he might suffer from the case. Reversal of Fortune is one of those films that stay with you for days after watching it. The film isn't necessarily unbelievable, but more of an, "I can't believe that actually happened" sort of flicks.
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