Main Cast: Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, Ron Silver, Annabella Sciorra, Uta Hagen
Release Year: 1990
Country: US
Run Time: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
This film is a darkly humorous, determinedly ambiguous adaptation of Alan Dershowitz's book about his successful legal appeal of Claus von Bulow's conviction for the attempted murder of his wife, Martha "Sunny" von Bulow. Sunny (Glenn Close) -- who remains in a "persistent vegetative state" resulting from a suspicious injection of insulin -- narrates the film, summarizing the first murder trial, which ended with Claus (Jeremy Irons) convicted and released on bail pending appeal. Claus approaches Harvard Law professor Dershowitz (Ron Silver) to handle the case. Working with a small group of law students recruited from his classes, Dershowitz presents sufficient new evidence to cast doubt as to Claus' guilt and the veracity of the star witness, her maid. Jeremy Irons' extraordinary, Oscar-winning performance dominates the film. He plays the role of Claus with a alternatively pompous, aloof snobbishness and an engagingly enigmatic, kinky, sly humor. Barbet Schroeder was also nominated for an Academy Award for his extraordinary, off-beat, direction of this sophisticated, exceptionally intelligent legal drama. Reversal of Fortune with its sharp, witty, Oscar-nominated screenplay by Nicholas Kazan is unusual in its understanding that legal guilt and moral culpability are not the same thing -- making for an unusually provocative tragicomedy of bad manners and bad behavior among the rich. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
Review
Thanks to Jeremy Irons' performance, Reversal of Fortune is less a conventional murder mystery than a trenchant social satire, a scathing study of a morally corrupt upper class. Working from a book by Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, writer Nicholas Kazan gives the film a peculiar, witty tone, avoiding obvious social commentary. Barbet Schroeder's direction is solid, but the film owes its success more to the outstanding performances of its leads. Apart from Irons' Oscar-winning work, Ron Silver and Glenn Close are also terrific as Dershowitz and the spaced-out Sunny von Bulow. Schroeder was previously best known as a producer of some of the best films of the French New Wave. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Fisher Stevens - David Marriott; Christine Baranski - Andrea Reynolds; Mano Singh - Raj; Felicity Huffman - Minnie; Alan Pottinger - Chuck; Sarah Fearon - Ala von Auersberg; Jad Mager - Alexander von Auersberg; Johann Carlo - Nancy; J.D. Cullum - John; Thomas Dorff - Brillhoffer; Christine Dunford - Ellen; Jack Gilpin - Peter MacIntosh; Julie Hagerty - Alexandra (uncredited); Julie Hoggerly; Stephen Mailer - Elon Dershowitz; Malachy McCourt - Englishman; Conrad McLaren - Sheriff; Frederick Neumann - Judge; Keith Reddin - Dobbs; Gordon Joseph Weiss - Tom Berman; Mitchell Whitfield - Curly; Tom Wright - Jack; Leo Leyden - Englishman; Michael Wikes - Steve Famiglietti; Lisa Gay Hamilton - Mary; Howard Feuer
Credit
Daniel Davis - Art Director, Michael Flynn - Associate Producer, Howard Feuer - Casting, Nicholas Kazan - Co-producer, Edward R. Pressman - Co-producer, Oliver Stone - Co-producer, Elon Dershowitz - Co-producer, Milena Canonero - Costume Designer, Judianna Makovsky - Costume Designer, Barbet Schroeder - Director, Lee Percy - Editor, Michael Rauch - Executive Producer, Mark Isham - Composer (Music Score), Mel Bourne - Production Designer, Steven Felder - Production Designer, Luciano Tovoli - Cinematographer, Steven Felder - Production Manager, Beth Kushnick - Set Designer, Nicholas Kazan - Screenwriter, Alan Dershowitz - Book Author
Reversal of Fortune (1990) is the cinematic adaptation of the 1985book, Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case, written by law professor Alan Dershowitz. It recounts the true story of the unexplained coma of socialite Sunny von Bülow, the subsequent attempted murder trial, and the eventual acquittal of her husband, Claus von Bülow, who had Dershowitz acting as his defense.
The film was positively reviewed, because of its detailed story, pacing, and use of flashback and insight, and Jeremy Irons' portrayal of the protagonist. With the 2008 death of Sunny von Bulow, interest in the film has increased, with Netflix reporting a "very long wait" for rentals.
Comas in movies
Research by Dr. Eelco Wijdicks on the depiction of comas in movies was published in Neurology in May 2006. Dr. Wijdicks studied 30 films (made between 1970 and 2004) that portrayed actors in prolonged comas, and he concluded that only two films accurately depicted the state of a coma victim and the agony of waiting for a patient to awaken: Reversal of Fortune (1990) and The Dreamlife of Angels (1998). The remaining 28 were criticised for portraying miraculous awakenings with no lasting side effects; unrealistic depictions of treatments and equipment required; and comatose patients remaining tanned, muscular, and suspiciously well turned out.
