YMMV / Runaway Jury

• Anvilicious: A very strong anti-gun message. Apparently the only reason gun companies have lasted so long is by bribing and threatening juries (they've since been immunized from lawsuits like the one depicted in the film, much the same way chemical companies aren't liable for deliberate poisonings and automobile manufacturers cannot be sued for hit-and-runs.)
• Magnificent Bastard: The book versions of "Nicholas Easter" and his lover "Marlee", real names Jeff Kerr and Gabrielle Brant, are a pair of mysterious figures seeking to influence the outcome of a lawsuit against a tobacco company. Nicholas gets selected for jury duty and sets himself up as a leader and friend to most of the other jurors while subtly influencing their opinions about key aspects of the case. Marlee, in the meantime, negotiates with the crooked jury consultant for the tobacco company, offering to sell the verdict while undermining his other efforts to blackmail or sabotage several jurors. While nice for the most part, they're willing to drug one of Nicholas's fellow jurors and make another afraid that she's being stalked to get them taken off the jury. In the end, it's revealed that the two are out to get a ruling against the tobacco company—along with massive punitive damages—in revenge for the deaths of Marlee's parents from lung cancer. They even return the tobacco company's bribe, although only after making a fortune by using it for investments. Expressing pride in what they've accomplished, they vow to take further action if the tobacco company goes too far in appealing the verdict.
• Unintentional Period Piece:
  • The film's entire plot rests on the idea that gun manufacturers can be sued for people using their products to commit shootings. While this could've been a plausible lawsuit in the film's release year of 2003, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act adopted by the United States Congress in 2005 has rendered such a lawsuit virtually impossible to do nowadays.
  • The plot is also reliant on gun manufacturers turning a blind eye to weapons they produce being purchased illegally. Assault firearms are very easy to purchase in the United States without having to resort to illegal means to get them.

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