Gene Hackman is convincing as the Machiavellian manipulator who asserts, "Trials are too important to be left up to juries." He plays perfectly off Dustin Hoffman's carefully calculated yet incorruptible morality, evoking memories of Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird." Keep in mind this is Hackman's third film based on a John Grisham novel, following "The Firm" and "The Chamber" - and it's his first pairing with Dustin Hoffman.

Writer/director Gary Fleder ("Don't Say a Word") with his team of four screenwriters have turned the anti-tobacco bias of the novel into an anti-gun agenda. He keeps the tension taut as plot twists and the stakes slowly rise in the picturesque French Quarter, superbly photographed by Christopher Young. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Runaway Jury" is a slick, compelling, suspenseful 8, emphasizing the moral ambiguity that's at the heart of this thriller.