Reversal of Fortune

R

Released Oct 17, 1990

2 hr. 0 min.

Drama

List

92%

53 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When socialite Sunny von Bülow (Glenn Close) inexplicably slips into an irreversible coma, police suspect foul play -- and the obvious suspect is her urbane husband, Claus (Jeremy Irons). After being found guilty of murder, Claus is granted a retrial and hires showboat Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) to represent him. Though unconvinced of Claus's innocence, Dershowitz enjoys a challenge and -- along with a group of his students -- fights to have the verdict overturned.

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Critics Consensus

Featuring exceptional performances and a cunning script, Reversal of Fortune doubles as a tantalizing mystery and ruthless satire of the rich.

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Paulami A

Thanks to Alan Dershowitz, Glen Close, Jeremy Irons, Ron Silver, Barbet Schroeder and an extraordinary team of cast and crew! Couldn't take my eyes off. My heartfelt regards to Alan Dershowitz for all the pro bono work you have been doing all your life!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/12/23

Full Review

Todd

One of my fav flicks. Everything about it is just perfect. An amazing example of a character piece with little plot that is so captivating. Mickey’s performance is brilliant as well as Faye’s. Love love love this movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/19/23

Full Review

Jack O

This is the kind of movie Reversal of Fortune is all I can say is ''Okay, this will do my pleasing.'' Reversal of Fortune is a good drama film about Claus von Bulow been accused of murdering his wife Sunny von Bulow with an overdose of insulin and Sunny thinks she's slipped into a coma. The story is well good and well structured. Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons and Ron Silver are both good in this like Jeremy Irons as Claus von Bulow and that's his Academy Award winning role and Ron Silver as the professor. Jeremy Irons and Ron Silver both had screen time than Glenn Close. Well, there is one scene where the maid has found a puddle of urine where Sunny p!$$ed in the bed and the maid says ''If madam had been to the bathroom, she would not have peed in her bed.'' Now the line that Jeremy Irons says after Ron Silver says ''You are a very strange man.'', he says ''You have no idea.'' Now let me clarify that in mind. In The Lion King where Jeremy Irons played Scar, he said the exact same thing after Simba says a line like this ''You're so weird.'' ''You have no idea.'' Couldn't you believe it? Jeremy says that line in two films he stared in, Reversal of Fortune and The Lion King! That's a coincidence!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/19/23

Full Review

Bored N

Solid drama, with an interesting mystery and true life case at its core. The acting was good too, though the way into the film is more through the Lawyers. At times it hard to really engage with the lead character or his wife. Its a slow burn, but worth checking out.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/11/23

Full Review

pieter m

Very fresh film with a very fresh Jeremy Irons.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

William L

Alan Dershowitz is just your average morally upright guy in the suburbs - middle aged, an obsessive Celtics fan, worrying over whether or not he did his best in his pro-bono case work. He just also charges $300/hour in the '80s and happens to have been involved with half of the high profile legal cases of the past 50 years. First off, Jeremy Irons is great in this film. He plays the well-spoken, deceptive upper crust with such a level of intrigue, his words come across like a mixture of honey and venom as charms those around him while turning icy at the mention of less desirable features of his past conduct. With him as the hated focus of an entire nation of looky-loos eager for real-world entertainment based on the misconduct of the wealthy, Reversal of Fortune finds solid footing as an entertaining investigative thriller (it's really not a legal drama; so little takes place in an actual courtroom that you can't refer to it as such accurately). My biggest gripe with this film is its willingness to introduce sincere moral ambiguity - exploring the need for everyone to have a sincere defense to avoid miscarriages of justice, introducing the slimy character of Irons' Claus von Bülow to counter the high-minded legal posturing, and introducing genuine concerns about the validity of the original investigation, particularly the presence of private investigators presenting evidence. However, the film nearly falls apart with its treatment of Dershowitz as a character. Reversal of Fortune is based on the book of the von Bülow trial by Dershowitz himself, and as a result (despite Silver's compelling performance) the film turns into a pure vanity project for Dershowitz. Contrasting painfully against the moral quagmire of the narrative, the famous lawyer is shown as both a brilliant legal titan and a relatable everyman, arranging a pickup basketball tournament with his students (for which he has time to order custom shirts and signage for, despite constantly talking about how little time they have for the case) while simultaneously fighting a pro bono case for brothers on Death Row. This is all capped by a note-perfect scene to close out Dershowitz's involvement in the film, where he delivers good news to von Bülow before talking about how he's not in moral agreement with him as he walks into the elevator; in this film, Dershowitz is an unerring moral compass, and it's ridiculous. Apart from that, not a bad movie. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/07/21

Full Review

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Barbet Schroeder

Director

Glenn Close

Sunny von Bülow

Jeremy Irons

Claus von Bülow

Ron Silver

Professor Alan Dershowitz

Annabella Sciorra

Sarah

Uta Hagen

Maria

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Richard Corliss

TIME Magazine

TV might make cautionary stick figures of Claus and Sunny. Reversal of Fortune treats them as if they were Noel Coward lovers gone to hell in a Lamborghini.

Jun 17, 2020

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Tribune

Irons' Von Bulow is easily the most attractive and entertaining movie heavy since James Mason`s villain in North by Northwest, a figure with whom he shares a taste for elegant homes and wry understatement.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jun 17, 2020

Full Review

Sheila Benson

Los Angeles Times

Screenwriter Nicholas Kazan, director Barbet Schroeder and, especially, Jeremy Irons--in a glittering performance as the divinely decadent Dane--have chosen to treat this social death spiral as a tragicomedy of manners. It's an inspired tone.

Jun 15, 2020

Full Review

Farah Cheded

A Good Movie To Watch

This gripping legal drama is based on a case we still don’t know the truth of — which might make it seem like a pointless exercise, were it not for the fact that it’s infectiously fascinated by greater questions.

Rated: 74/100

Jul 28, 2023

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Reversal of Fortune is very well written, very well acted, and very well directed. [Full review in Spanish]

Nov 30, 2022

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

As distant and icy as Jeremy Irons' Oscar-winning performance as suspected murderer Claus von Bülow, but like Irons' inscrutable steeliness, it's also endlessly compelling.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 9, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

When socialite Sunny von Bülow (Glenn Close) inexplicably slips into an irreversible coma, police suspect foul play -- and the obvious suspect is her urbane husband, Claus (Jeremy Irons). After being found guilty of murder, Claus is granted a retrial and hires showboat Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) to represent him. Though unconvinced of Claus's innocence, Dershowitz enjoys a challenge and -- along with a group of his students -- fights to have the verdict overturned.

Director: Barbet Schroeder
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Sovereign Pictures, Shochiku-Fuji Company [jp], Reversal Films Inc.
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 17, 1990, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 14, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $10.5M
Sound Mix: Surround

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