A legal thriller that begins as a character study and ends in alligator-filled chaos
In short: The 1995 film Just Cause features a star-studded cast, including Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne, in a story about a Harvard professor attempting to save a death row inmate. While the first half shows promise as a tense legal drama, the plot eventually spirals into a series of increasingly implausible twists.
Directed by Arne Glimcher, Just Cause follows Paul Armstrong, a liberal professor and former lawyer who travels to Florida to investigate the conviction of Bobby Earl Ferguson. Ferguson, a former Cornell University student, claims he was coerced into a false confession for the murder of a young girl. Armstrong eventually secures Ferguson's acquittal after discovering the murder weapon, but the narrative takes a dark turn when it is revealed that Ferguson and a serial killer named Blair Sullivan orchestrated a manipulative scheme to secure Ferguson's freedom.
The film's second half shifts from a legal thriller into a violent confrontation in the Florida swamps. It is revealed that Ferguson sought revenge against Armstrong's wife, Laurie, who had previously prosecuted him in a kidnapping case that resulted in his imprisonment and brutalization. The climax involves a showdown where Armstrong kills Ferguson, whose body is subsequently consumed by alligators. Critics, including Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, noted that while the film's initial character study was effective, the later reliance on gratuitous plot developments undermined its overall impact.
Despite a strong cast, the film struggled with critics, holding a 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviewers like Janet Maslin and Lisa Schwarzbaum criticized Glimcher's antiseptic visual style and heavy-handed direction, which they felt drained the story of its necessary grit. Nevertheless, the film remains a notable entry in 1990s thriller cinema, and recent reports indicate that a limited series adaptation is in development for Amazon Prime Video, featuring Scarlett Johansson, who appeared as a child actor in the original film.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Just Cause (film)
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