It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The saga of Sunny Von Bulow has mystified those fascinated with the lifestyles of the rich and miserable since long before she went into that diabetic coma. Glenn Close narrates, as if from beyond the grave (or at least over the rainbow, having discovered bluer skies in sleep) the story of her seemingly fairy tale existence that starts off coldly, with the camera going far above the estates where there's a cold air of no emotion rising off of them. The story surrounds attorney Alan Derkowitz's efforts to clear her worldly husband Klaus (the Oscar Winning Jeremy Irons) of attempted murder. While the law students he works with have different ideas of his guilt or innocence, Silver reminds them that as the defense attorney, their job is to give the inkling of doubt whether they like the client or not.Irons is a combination of charming, creepy, funny and loving, so there is a benefit of doubt there, even though I was never quite sure. Not yet famous outside of the theater, Christine Baranski is coolly elegant as Klaus's latest conquest, with Julie Hagerty appearing in an unforgettable cameo as "Dark Shadows" star Alexandra Isles who was his mistress. Every detail shows that the world of the ultra rich is perhaps even more miserable than being poor, with Close showing Sunny's frailties, insecurities, anger, fear of showing love (even to her own children) and ultimate acceptance of her fate, as if living death through a coma freed her soul from her earthly woes. Ironically, when Sunny Con Bulow did pass away, it was very little fanfare, only a footnote towards this movie and the trial that inspired it. The glamorous look it takes on prevents it from looking as if it was made for TV, although references to the sad lives of other poor little rich girls (all documented in TV movies) is sadly obvious.

Checked out and watched the legal drama "Reversal of Fortune" which is based on the real life attempted murder case and overturned conviction case of rich and well known European aristocrat Claus Von Bulow(in an Oscar winner role for Jeremy Irons who's sly and cunning in his acting). And this is a legal picture that's a little different from others it stays away from the courtroom drama scenes and most focuses on the behind the scenes legal theory and work by Claus's defense team which was headed by famed defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz(Ron Silver)and a group of his former students that he taught at college. The story is compelling and interesting as this happened not once but twice as Claus was convicted of twice trying to kill his elegant socialite wife Sunny(Glenn Close)and Claus is a spoiled playboy a guy who has a mistress on the side, yet still Sunny had a drug and alcohol problem, and the way the film shows the scenes it leaves it up in the air as to whether Claus gave Sunny the dose or did she overdose herself in a suicide attempt? As questions still linger at what happened at this 1980 Newport mansion.The film is also based on defense lawyer Dershowitz's book as I mentioned most of the picture on the other story side is a focus of the legal work and theory put forward by Alan and his legal team of ex law students and current students waiting to pass the bar. It's really like a legal theory classroom showcase! All in all the film is a catch with interest it still has a drama suspense feel to it as after I watched I still asked the questions did Claus do it or not? "Reversal of Fortune" is one legal theory movie to watch.

Greetings from Lithuania."Reversal of Fortune" (1990) is a very involving and compelling picture, based on a very true story. Performances are first rate, but Jeremy Irons steals every scene he is in - this is Oscar winning performance, and truly deserved one. The guy is just so multi layered, this is exceptional acting. Others were good. Story is involving, directing is very solid, at running time 1 h 50 min this movie does not drag and is involving from start till end.Overall, "Reversal of Fortune" (1990) is a very good movie by all accounts. It tells true story and does this in a involving and entertaining way.

With its opening long shot panning above numerous estates in Rhode Island, REVERSAL OF FORTUNE inks a plaintive sentiment to this morally ambiguous true story, the case of socialite Sunny von Bülow (Close), who descends into an unexplained brain-dead coma in the 1980, and her current husband, Claus von Bülow (Irons) is charged with attempted murder by an overdose of insulin injection. Against all the odds to his trial, Claus hires Alan Dershowitz (Silver) as his defence and eventually gets away with the indictment while the truth remains a moot point. In real life Sunny died in 2008 after almost 28 years as a human vegetable and Alan would be involved as an appellate adviser in another notorious case of O.J. Simpson. Adapted by Nicholas Kazan from Dershowitz's 1985 book REVERSAL OF FORTUNE: INSIDE THE VON BÜLOW CASE, the film is directed by Franco-Swiss director Barbet Schroeder as the follow-up of BARFLY (1987), when he firstly took a stab in Hollywood. Overall, the film garners 3 Oscar nominations including BEST DIRECTOR for Schroeder and ADAPTED SCREENPLAY for Kazan, plus a substantial win for Irons in the BEST LEADING ACTOR race. So, let's discuss Irons' performance first, wearing a bald wig, Irons' Claus establishes his ambiguity through his Englishman suaveness (from both his style of intonation and vague slyness in his demeanour) and an outward moral superiority. It is a perfect exemplar of his screen persona, fragilely lithe, intelligently elusive, and poisonously charming. In my book, he completes a more demanding and inspiring work in Cronenberg's DEAD RINGERS (1988, 7/10), but I have no qualm of his victory, however, it is patent that alongside a fertile career-path, he hasn't been invited back for another nomination since, which may partially bespeaks that the academy reckons his win is quite enough to acknowledge his versatility in a generous gesture. A much more perplexing case here is Glenn Close, who was on a hot streak in the 80s and conquered 5 Oscar nominations in 7 years, is completed snubbed here, one possible reason is the category misplacement, because Close is first-billed, thus she might be considered as a lead, however her screen-time is massively less than Irons and Silver (a very coincidental admixture), but she is superb as the rich woman who has nothing to live for, cannot be satisfied sexually and emotionally by her distant husband, stranded in the shore of aberrant medication, while Close manages to squeeze compassion out of the audience, simultaneously, her Sunny is a monstrous pain-in-the-neck to be around, Close influences great driving force for the film, not the least as the solemn voice-over narrating the story in a flashback structure, which brings about a verisimilitude of an uncanny experience where Sunny is coming back from her vegetative state. She is my current win in supporting actress race if there was any justice for her hallow prestige and consistent caliber. Ron Silver as Alan himself, represents a more mundane facade on the case - the legal activity, although his supposedly dialectical speech can barely be convincing when one of his student Minnie (a young Felicity Huffman) threats to quit because she thinks Claus is not innocent and they should not defence the perpetrator, since it is impossible to erase the whiff of money-grubbing in the process, so within all his movements, at least one part serves as a justification for a more self-seeking cause, which is the sad reality of the legislative system, not so far away in Satan's service. Performance-wise, Silver and Sciorra (as his fellow college Sarah) are a far cry from the elite group of Irons and Close, in any rate, viewers are not interested in their stories at all. In hindsight, the film is an adamant advocate in defying our conception of "seeking the truth", truth only exists in those who are personally experienced in the particular event, as for outsiders, for the most part, we cannot get an unmitigated version of truth or whatsoever. Let's just forget the fanciful obsession and instead, try to reconcile with the world in a more pliable perspective, that is the spirit!