Reversal of Fortune [Region 2] |  | Director: Barbet Schroeder
Actors: Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close, Ron Silver, Annabella Sciorra, Uta Hagen
Category: DVD
Buy Used: $25.08
Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 197998
Format: Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5050070010763
ASIN: B000063BMC
Theatrical Release Date: October 1990
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential video
One of the most intriguing criminal trials of the 1980s involved Claus von Buelow, who was accused of sending his rich wife Sunny into a permanent coma with an overdose of insulin. Director Barbet Schroeder, working from Nicholas Kazan's evocative, darkly humorous script, turns the story into both a look at the lives of rich folks with too much time on their hands and a whodunit, as lawyer Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) prepares to defend von Buelow (Jeremy Irons) in court. Irons won an Oscar for his spooky, knowing performance, which hints at depths of degeneracy without ever putting a dent in a veneer of bored elegance. The contrast between the hard-charging Dershowitz and his eager-beaver Harvard law students and the eternally languid von Buelow adds unexpected humor. --Marshall Fine
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| Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...
 3.5 stars out of 4 May 21, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Ann Arbor)
The Bottom Line:
A fascinating film that makes innovative choices visa vie its construction and seems to know more about the law than most legal thrillers, Reversal of Fortune would be interesting even if Jeremy Irons wasn't so fantastic as to justify watching the entire film: watch it and be delighted.
 The miserable rich May 7, 2009
C Wahlman (Merrillville, IN)
I have read very little about the von Bulow case, yet this movie seemed so enticing: Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons star as the miserable rich couple of Newport, whose tragically shallow lives take a "theatrical" turn when Sunny suffers from 2 comas, a year apart, the second rendering her a permanent vegetable.
These two incredible actors are buttressed by some familiar faces (at least some were familiar in the early 90s): Ron Silver, Annabella Sciorra, Christine Baranski, Felicity Huffman, and Tom Wright.
The ambiguous nature of the film easily draws you in, and the dynamic cram sessions of Prof Dershowitz's squad were interesting to watch. The film flips between this incredible mystery of attempted murder, and the legal struggles of the case. This dynamic makes the film balanced, suspenseful, and thoughtful. No one in this film is terrible or innocent. Claus is right when he states that no one will ever truly know what happened that night, not even him. Moments like these make this film. You begin to wonder, what is true? Can you remember anything as it truly happened, especially after someone suggests things about that memory? Intriguing ideas, thought-provoking dialogue, all with intense mystery and even some sly humor, truly this is an exceptional movie.
The best moment of this film is when Prof. Dershowitz says, "You are a very strange man." To which Claus replies, "You have no idea."
Played believable and subtly, yet just a little creepy to make you uncomfortable and unsure, this movie delivers on everything, except what really happened. Highly recommended.
Did He Or Didn't He? April 16, 2009
Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
This was a movie, and based a true-life story, that left a lot of people puzzled. Did he - Claus von Bulow - murder his wife, or didn't he? After watching this film a decade ago, I still wasn't sure.
The story is a fascinating one and the movie is well-done, too. Was the story biased? Probably since it comes from a book written an attorney shown in the movie but, as someone who mainly knows the story only from this film, I am not qualified to say how much of this is truth, fiction and/or bias. Nonetheless, those intrigued with character studies should like this movie.
What I do know is the story was interesting and Jeremy Irons as "von Bulow;" Glenn Close his wife "Sunny," and Ron Silver as attorney "Alan Dershowitz," were all fascinating, all turning in fine performances.
The only thing I warn viewers is not to be duped by the message in there that you can't ever know the truth, everything is relative, etc. This is nonsense and the kind of psycho-babble defense lawyers love to spew.
"You're a very strange man." "You have NO idea." February 14, 2009
T. Davis (Seattle, WA)
I love this movie. It's got everything I go to movies for: great acting, clever dialogue, intense drama, hilarious wit, directorial brio, and more. Jeremy Irons richly deserved his best actor Oscar for playing the deadpan-droll Claus von Bulow, a role tailor-made for him. Ron Silver deserved one as well for his work as Alan Dershowitz, von Bulow's legal eagle and fascinating foil, the embodiment of chutzpah. I could go on in detail about all the little moments that make this film wonderful, but I'll stop here and simply urge you to see it. Until you do, you'll have NO idea...
Good movie! September 6, 2008
Suzanne Woods-Olack (Ohio)
This is a very good movie especially if you've visited the mansions at Newport Rhode Island. Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons do an excellent job questioning our minds as to whether he did it or not. You be the judge, get this movie, you won't be dissappointed!
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