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Reversal of Fortune

Play trailer Poster for Reversal of Fortune R 1990 2h 0m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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92% Tomatometer 53 Reviews 78% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
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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Reversal of Fortune

Reversal of Fortune

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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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Critics Reviews

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Richard Corliss TIME Magazine 06/17/2020
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. Go to Full Review
Dave Kehr Chicago Tribune 06/17/2020
3.5/4
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. Go to Full Review
Sheila Benson Los Angeles Times 06/15/2020
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. Go to Full Review
Farah Cheded A Good Movie To Watch 07/28/2023
74/100
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. Go to Full Review
Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 11/30/2022
Reversal of Fortune is very well written, very well acted, and very well directed. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Mattie Lucas From the Front Row 11/09/2020
3/4
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. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Jelisije J @jjosifovic 3d If you want answers to the movie don't expect to get it. The real heart of the film is the character of Jeremy Irons and without his performance the film is a snooze fest. See more Alec B @Alec97 Jan 10 Genuinely a great time and very re-watchable. I love the coma voice over narration and Irons, Close, and Silver are all terrific. See more Hector I @Hector1184BC 01/11/2025 Superb film found by chance. Jeremy Iron is fantastic, funny, cynical and mysterious. Accused of murdering his wife, he has to defend himself and gathers a bunch of geeks in a house with such a 90s vibe. It's all there: he thinks he's lonely and unhappy with her.She's a tyrannical, brittle woman who regrets her life. He comes across as an abused man who just wants to live his middle-class life and work. His daughter-in-law loves him, unlike his son-in-law. It's quite touching the way it's portrayed on screen, the looks, ... It reminds me a little of Polanski's J'accuse, where the person accused isn't exactly sympathetic. A great film, full of subtleties. See more Paulami A 11/11/2023 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! See more Todd 10/19/2023 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. See more Jack O 06/19/2023 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! See more Read all reviews
Reversal of Fortune

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Movie Info

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
Producer
Edward R. Pressman, Oliver Stone
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Shochiku-Fuji Company [jp], Reversal Films Inc., Sovereign Pictures
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
Runtime
2h 0m
Sound Mix
Surround
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