Jury Duty Blu Ray Review (Mill Creek Entertainment)

Jury Duty is a 1995 comedy film directed by John Fortenberry (A Night at the Roxbury, The Ben Stiller Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, & Rescue Me). The film is loosely based on Twelve Angry Men. It’s written by Neil Tolkin (Sticks & Stones, License to Drive, Ri¢hie Ri¢h, & Magnum P.I.), Barbara Williams (DuckTales: The Movie Special), & Samantha Adams. It was produced by Yoram Ben-Ami (Lone Wolf McQuade, Sheena, Stone Cold, & 3 Ninjas franchise) & Peter M. Lenkov(Son in Law, 24, CSI: NY, & R.I.P.D). Pauly Shore won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor for this. The budget was $21 million & it grossed $17 million at the box office. Tommy Collins (played by: Pauly Shore from Encino Man, Son in Law, Bio-Dome, & In the Army Now) is an unemployed erotic dancer who lives at his mother’s (played by: Shelley Winters from The Delta Force, Cleopatra Jones, Bloody Mama, & What’s the Matter with Helen?) home in a trailer park. He finds out that she & her boyfriend Jed (played by: Charles Napier from The Silence of the Lambs, Maniac Cop 2, Rambo: First Blood Part II, & Austin Powers franchise) are going to Las Vegas to be married so it leaves him homeless for the moment. Desperate for somewhere to live, he decides to go for jury duty. Each of the jurors get their own free accommodation plus $5 a day. After several cases he gets chosen to be a juror for a murder case involving a man named Carl Wayne Bishop (played by: Sean Whalen from The People Under The Stairs, 3 From Hell, Twister, & Suicide Kings).

All the jurors which includes Monica (played by: Tia Carrere from Wayne’s World 1/2, True Lies, Rising Sun, & Showdown in Little Toyko), Frank (played by: Stanley Tucci from Captain America: The First Avenger, Monkey Shines, Transformers franchise, & The Hunger Games franchise), Harry (played by: Brian Doyle-Murray from Wayne’s World, JFK, Caddyshack, & Multiplicity), Skeets (played by: Richard Edson from Super Mario Bros, 3 From Hell, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, & Platoon), Principal Beasely (played by: Richard Riehle from Hatchet, Casino, Ferris Bueller (TV Series), Office Space, & Grounded for Life), Nathan (played by: Richard T. Jones from The Trigger Effect, Event Horizon, Godzilla, & Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Sarah (played by: Alex Datcher from Body Bags, Passenger 57, Netherworld, & Rage and Honor), & others are staying at the Holiday Suite in the section that is being remodeled & Tommy ends up being a room mate with his former high school principal. Tommy scams himself into a luxurious suite soon after thanks to clerk Russell Cadbury (played by: Mark L. Taylor from Angel Heart, Arachnophobia, Born in East L.A, & Honey, I Shrunk the Kids). Tommy ends up being the foreman for the group. He tries his best to delay the trail which angers his fellow jurors. They find out why he doesn’t want the case to end when they discover his top notch room with security guard Murphy (played by: Jack McGee from Rescue Me, Backdraft, Lethal Weapon 2/3, & The Paper) & they all end up very upset with the greedy Tommy. The case is declared a mistrial by Judge Powell (played by: Abe Vigoda from The Godfather 1/2, Sugar Hill, Look Who’s Talking, & Batman: Mask of the Phantasm) but one of the jurors has a deadly secret. Can they solve this case? or Will the killer walk free????

Jury Duty is basically a comedy version of Twelve Angry Men. Remember when Pauly Shore was popular? It’s crazy to think that the comedian got so many huge roles & movies over talented actors that never got that opportunity in their careers. Don’t get me wrong, Shore has his moments & he can be hilarious at times. He was a horrible actor & this project was no different for him. Notice the great supporting cast he had around him for this which includes Shelley Winters, Charles Napier, Rick Ducommun (The Burbs), Andrew Dice Clay (A Star is Born), Stanley Tucci Richard Riehle, Richard Edson, Brian Doyle-Murray, Tia Carrere, Jack McGee, Mark L. Taylor, Alex Datcher, Sean Whalen, & Abe Vigoda. They made Jury Duty decent with their performances & saved it because he definitely couldn’t do it by himself. It’s loaded with familiar faces & known character actors, that’s the best thing about this feature. The script was definitely crafted for Shore’s type of humor, it still had some funny moments here & there. It’s a little ridiculous & cheesy but it stays entertaining the entire time. Turn off your brain & just have some fun with this one!!!!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Mill Creek Entertainment! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer is from an older master. It’s an upgrade from the previous DVD & VHS releases but don’t expect reference quality or anything like that here. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is just okay. It’s not really the type of film that will make your speakers pound or really test out your home set up. The dialogue is very clean & the music sounds decent. It has English SDH subtitles. There’s no extras on the disc.This is the first time Jury Duty has been released on blu ray in the states thanks to the great folks at Mill Creek Entertainment. It’s a part of their “I Love the 90s” line. It has an retro VHS slipcover plus different artwork underneath it. It’s the quality you would expect from an older catalog title but for the price it’s definitely worth adding to the collection. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!