Just Cause (1995)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Arne Glimcher

Writers (WGA):

John Katzenbach (novel)
Jeb Stuart (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 February 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Buried deep in the Florida Everglades is a secret that can save an innocent man or let a killer kill again.

Plot:

Bobby Earl is facing the electric chair for the murder of a young girl. Eight years after the crime he calls in Paul Armstrong...

Plot Keywords:

Florida | Murder | Police | Death Row | Prison

Cast

Sean Connery	...	Paul Armstrong
Laurence Fishburne	...	Sheriff Tanny Brown
Kate Capshaw	...	Laurie Prentiss Armstrong
Blair Underwood	...	Bobby Earl
Ed Harris	...	Blair Sullivan
Christopher Murray	...	Detective T.J. Wilcox
Ruby Dee	...	Evangeline
Scarlett Johansson	...	Katie Armstrong
Daniel J. Travanti	...	Warden
Ned Beatty	...	McNair
Liz Torres	...	Delores Rodriguez
Lynne Thigpen	...	Ida Conklin
Taral Hicks	...	Lena Brown
Victor Slezak	...	Sgt. Rogers
Kevin McCarthy	...	Phil Prentiss

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Iceland:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 (w) | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Collier County, Florida, USA

Company:

Fountainbridge Films

Trivia:

Norman Jewison was originally attached to direct.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the chase scene as they approach the draw-bridge, both sides of the bridge are raised to 45 degrees. Seconds later, when the car jumps the bridge, the far side is down again.

Quotes:

Blair Sullivan: How did my parents look, hmm? How did they smell?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Tracey Fragments (2007)

Soundtrack:

Crying in the Chapel

Interesting film with good performances, then it nose dives

I've seen my fair share of badly thought-out endings and final twists to films, but I don't recall any film that committed outright suicide like this one did.

The film makers were clearly hoping that the great twist would 'surprise' us all.... and it did, but perhaps not in the way the directors had hoped. I was left feeling surprised that Connery, Harris, Fishburn and Capshaw had anything to do with this turkey, individually or collectively.

The film up until the final thirty minutes was rather engaging and I like the way the story was unfolding and the nature of the film overall. But once the twist was revealed, the plot holes and inconsistencies were remarkable, the underlying motive for revenge was ill-conceived and the ways things so neatly worked out for Bobby Earl was ridiculously far-fetched. What's worse is that, once the twist was revealed, the remainder of the film became excruciatingly predictable.

Harris gave a terrific performance and Connery is like Morgan Freeman in that he never gives a bad performance, even if the movie ain't that great! So all in all, it starts well and the unfolding keeps the viewer interested. The last 30 minutes is one of the most memorable nose dives in the history of cinema.