Of late, I have seen Jeremy Irons in a supporting role in that Snyder Cut thing and, as part of my job, as a king ashamed of his son in the Shakespearean adaptation The Hollow Crown. So, why not see him in a starring role? The man is a talented actor whose been perfecting his craft for quite some time. In fact, his Oscar-winning role as Claus von Bulow is on HBO Max until the end of the month, so why not check out Reversal of Fortune while I have the chance?
Oh, it’s based on a book by controversial lawyer Alan Dershowitz, was produced by his son Elon, and has actors playing both of those men? OK, that may be an area where this movie has aged a little weirdly.
Wealthy socialite Sunny von Bulow (Glenn Close) narrates the opening scenes of the movie, describing how she fell into two comas and how her husband Claus (Irons) was a little slow to get medical help. There was enough suspicion in all that for Sunny’s two children from her first marriage to get lawyered up and send their stepdad to prison for attempted murder. Claus was off canoodling with his mistress (Julie Hagerty!), and his general behavior has most people convinced he’s guilty anyway. So, he hires Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) to defend him in court. Dershowitz does a lot of pro bono work for poor folks in tight situations, so having a wealthy, paying client will do those people a lot of good. Besides, the story intrigues him even if he isn’t sure if Claus is guilty or innocent. But that’s not a lawyer’s job, and he soon puts together a legal team made up of current and former students to put together the best case he can.
It turns out there is a good cause to suspect that Claus may not necessarily be innocent, but his guilt is not all that certain. Sunny was an emotionally unstable drug addict, and her kids were quick to point fingers as Claus, a very emotionally restrained man who rubs people the wrong way given his general stuffy European aristocratic ways. Again, for Dershowitz and his team, it isn’t about Claus being innocent. He could still be guilty. It’s about using the system to make sure an innocent man doesn’t go away and the rich don’t use the system to get what they want. In this case, Claus is the poor one. Sunny had a lot more money, and her kids are using it against him. Factor in how generally difficult Sunny made Claus’s life edging her way towards suicide, and it is very possible that Claus was set-up.
That said, the movie never really confirms one way or the other whether or not he’s innocent. His story is plausible, but Irons plays the man as such a slimey fellow, it’s easy to go either way. Heck, the various characters defending him can’t seem to decide one way or the other.
As I said, Irons is great as Claus, and Close does a good job as Sunny as well. It is a little weird how Sunny is sometimes the narrator from her coma, but that’s a relatively minor quirk.
No, the bigger issue for me is Dershowitz as a character here. The movie portrays him as a do-gooder, a man who is really mad that the wealthy may be trying to manipulate the legal system to get their own way, and there’s a small subplot about a pair of African American brothers who were on death row that Dershowitz was trying to get off while defending Claus in court. In 1990, sure, that could be plausible. But in 2021, Dershowitz has been among the defense teams for both OJ Simpson and Donald Trump for the latter’s first impeachment trial. He may very well still be defending the poor and downtrodden pro bono, but that sure isn’t what he’s known for, and as a result, a movie with him as a main character based on a book by him seems to be some sort of self-promotion, particularly with his son acting as a producer.
Grade: B
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