Main Cast: Armand Assante, Barbara Carrera, Laurene Landon, Alan King, Geoffrey Lewis
Release Year: 1982
Country: US
Run Time: 109 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Larry Cohen wrote the screenplay to this updating of Mickey Spillane's notorious 1947 novel. Cohen was originally engaged to direct the film as well but was pulled from the director's chair after a week's worth of shooting because he had already run up the budget by $100,000; he was replaced by television director Richard T. Heffron. In this 1982 I, the Jury, Mike Hammer (Armand Assante) is a Vietnam veteran who wears hip duds and drives around in a bronze Trans Am in much the same way as Robert Mitchum's Philip Marlowe was refurbished for Michael Winner's re-make of The Big Sleep. After a cheesy rip-off of a James Bond-style credit sequence, the story kicks in. One-armed detective Jack Williams (Frederick Downs) is murdered. Jack was Hammer's best friend, and Hammer decides that he will become a one-man vigilante squad and seek vengeance on the person responsible for his death. He enlists the aid of his vivacious secretary Velda (Laurene Landon) and is also helped and hindered by police-chief Pat Chambers (Paul Sorvino). Hammer latches on to the killer's trail, then the film veers in a radically different direction from the book, introducing government conspiracies and mind-control techniques by the CIA and the Mafia. Also introduced is Hammer's love interest Charlotte Bennett (Barbara Carrera), an administrator of a kinky sex clinic (depicted as a psychiatrist in the original novel). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
This attempt to update Mickey Spillane's hard-nosed style of detective fiction for the 1980's tries hard but still manages to fall short. Larry Cohen's script reworks Spillane's source novel extensively to give it some unusual, politically subversive themes but the film feels oddly lifeless in its pacing and structure. The major reason for this is the no-frills direction from television veteran Richard T. Heffron: his formulaic, competent-but-styleless approach to the material saps it of its energy and humor, creating an end result that looks and feels like a t.v. movie with added sex and violence. The television-like feel is enhanced by a chintzy score from Bill Conti that sounds like outtakes from a 1970's cop show. In terms of acting, Armand Assante does well with his brooding take on the detective hero and Barbera Carrera is alluring as the mysterious therapist who becomes his romantic interest. There are also likeable turns from Laurene Landon as Hammer's hard-working gal Friday and comedian Alan King as a stylish mob boss. Unfortunately, their quality work exists in a vacuum because the storytelling lacks the intensity and focus that define a good thriller. As a result, I, The Jury is little more than an interesting misfire. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
Paul Sorvino - Pat Chambers; Judson Scott - Kendricks; Barry Snider - Romero; Julia Barr - Norma Childs; Jessica James - Hilda Kendricks; Frederic Downs - Jack Williams; Lee Anne Harris - First twin; Lynette Harris - Second Twin; Mary Margaret Amato - Myrna Williams; Corinne Bohrer - Soap Opera Actress; Jack Davidson - Eric Clavel; Daniel Faraldo - Danny; Ernest Harada - Chef; F.J. O'Neil - Goodwin; Larry Pine - Movie Director; William G. Schilling - Lundee; Don Pike - Evans; Alex Stevens - 1st Cab Driver; Joe Farago - Assistant Director; Richard Russell Ramos - 2nd Cab Driver; Norm Blankenship; Bobbi Burns - Sheila Kyle; Alan Dellay - Cameraman; Lee Doyle; Herb Peterson; H. Richard Greene - Gentleman at Bar; Michael Miller - Victor Kyle
Credit
Marty Hornstein - Associate Producer, Deborah Brown - Casting, Celia Bryant - Costume Designer, Henry Bronchtein - First Assistant Director, Richard T. Heffron - Director, Don Pike - Second Unit Director, Garth Craven - Editor, Andrew D.T. Pfeffer - Executive Producer, Michael Leone - Executive Producer, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), Jay Cannistraci - Makeup, Carl Fullerton - Makeup Special Effects, Robert Gundlach - Production Designer, Andrew Laszlo - Cinematographer, Robert Solo - Producer, Jack Wright - Set Designer, Connie Brink - Special Effects, T.W. King - Special Effects, Kim Ornitz - Sound/Sound Designer, Don Pike - Stunts, Larry Cohen - Screenwriter, Mickey Spillane - Book Author
