When you're finished watching this film you are likely to believe two things: 1) Claus von Bulow got away with the attempted murder of his socialite wife because 2) his lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, is totally amoral. Faced with a client who he obviously believes is probably guilty, Dershowitz resorts to one of the least respected of all legal tactics: blaming the victim. The film - co-written by Dershowitz - degenerates from a rather ordinary legal drama into an endless series of attacks on the character of Sunny von Bulow, who, being in a coma, is hardly in any shape to defend herself. The film aggressively suggests that if Sunny von Bulow didn't cause her own misfortune, she certainly had it coming to her. Such a tactic is dangerous in a courtroom, because it can loose the jury's sympathy. But in a movie, especially one as one-sided and biased as this, it is a safe and even cowardly action. Watching this movie is like being allowed only to hear one side of the case. Anything damaging to Claus von Bulow is mentioned only if Dershowitz can rationalize it away; anything offered in defense of Sunny von Bulow's character (testimony or actions of friends and relatives) is rapidly discredited.
But what moves the film from being merely a nasty, self-serving ego trip for Dershowitz into the realm of the utterly creep and despicable is the cinema trick of having Sunny offer testimony. Though comatose and vegetating in bed, Dershowitz and director Barbet Schroeder put words into Sunny's mouth, making her a totally unwilling voice-over witness in von Bulow's defense. Dershowitz could never get away with such a thing in a court of law, but he obviously has no moral qualms about manipulating history and reality to try to justify his own dubious legal integrity in the court of cinematic public opinion. The villain in Reversal of Fortune is not Claus von Bulow, who, as embodied by Jeremy Irons in a quirky one-note performance, seems to be his own worse enemy. The villain here is Dershowitz (and the legal system he represents) who seems to believe winning - no matter what the cost - is more important than justice and feeding one's own ego is its own reward. The only saving grace in this callous film is that all involved are so shallow and unsympathetic one never really cares about the guilt or innocence of any of them.
But what moves the film from being merely a nasty, self-serving ego trip for Dershowitz into the realm of the utterly creep and despicable is the cinema trick of having Sunny offer testimony. Though comatose and vegetating in bed, Dershowitz and director Barbet Schroeder put words into Sunny's mouth, making her a totally unwilling voice-over witness in von Bulow's defense. Dershowitz could never get away with such a thing in a court of law, but he obviously has no moral qualms about manipulating history and reality to try to justify his own dubious legal integrity in the court of cinematic public opinion. The villain in Reversal of Fortune is not Claus von Bulow, who, as embodied by Jeremy Irons in a quirky one-note performance, seems to be his own worse enemy. The villain here is Dershowitz (and the legal system he represents) who seems to believe winning - no matter what the cost - is more important than justice and feeding one's own ego is its own reward. The only saving grace in this callous film is that all involved are so shallow and unsympathetic one never really cares about the guilt or innocence of any of them.