Justice may be blind, but when it comes to money or more specifically, making obscene amounts of the stuff the American legal system possesses perfect vision.

Runaway Jury is the latest courtroom thriller based on a trashy bestseller by the king of the legal blockbuster John Grisham.

The film may be guilty of several misdemeanours predictable plotting, lapses in logic, an implausible ending but it's nevertheless slick and engrossing, propelled by a handful of neat twists.

In the wake of an office block massacre, vengeful widow Celeste Woods (Joanna Going), whose husband perished in the bloodbath, launches a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the gun company which made the deranged shooter's weapon.

She hires the notoriously incorruptible Wendell Rohr (Hoffman) to prosecute her case, while the firearms company enlists the services of oily lawyer Durwood Cable (Bruce Davison) and Machiavellian jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Hackman).

Fitch intends to handpick the 12 men and women who will judge the gun company, then blackmail them into delivering a not guilty verdict.

His dastardly scheme works like a treat except for one fly in the ointment: juror number seven, the mysterious Nick Easter (Cusack), who seems to possess the ability to sway his fellow jury members whichever way he chooses.

Outside the deliberations, Nick's girlfriend Marlee (Weisz) makes contact with both legal counsels and demands $10 million in exchange for the verdict of their choice.

At first, neither Rohr nor Cable bow to Marlee's demands, believing that justice (or in the defence's case, good ole-fashioned intimidation) will win the day.

But as the day of deliberation approaches, both sides of the argument are forced to loosen their morals, leaving both Marlee and Nick exposed to attack.

Runaway Jury gallops along at a fair lick and gives us little time to ponder the gaping holes in Grisham's tall tale, particularly the dramatic verdict which is pure wish fulfillment.

The ensemble cast is excellent, including Cusack and Weisz's mysterious manipulators, and Hoffman and Hackman clearly relish their courtroom confrontations.

Case dismissed.

OUT! rating: 6 out of 10

Film writer Stephen Webb reviews RUNAWAY JURY

Starring: John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman

Director: Gary Fleder

Certificate: 12A

Running time:

127 mins

Showing at: UGC and Cineworld, Swindon