SummaryJeremy Irons plays socialite Claus von Bulow, seeking legal exoneration in the most sensational attempted murder scandal of the 1980s. (Warner Bros.)
Directed By:Barbet Schroeder
Written By:Alan Dershowitz, Nicholas Kazan
Reversal of Fortune
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
93
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
93
94% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
6% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
This engrossing mystery-comedy peeks through the keyholes of the rich and infamous in a manner both droll and delicious.
100
What makes it so instructively entertaining is the pivotal character of Claus von Bulow, played by Jeremy Irons within an inch of his professional life. It's a fine, devastating performance, affected, mannerly, edgy, though seemingly ever in complete control. [17 Oct 1990]
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
89% Positive
41 Ratings
41 Ratings
7% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
4% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Mar 21, 2016
9
Reversal of Fortune is finally enjoyable only on its own times. Don't forget to watch all the movies I'm giving 9's in as of this time because movies like this one cannot be missed.
Dec 1, 2021
8
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!
100
The juxtaposition of liberal Jewish attorney Dershowitz (Silver) and von Bulow working together on the latter's defense makes for some engagingly offbeat drama, with some interesting insights into the legal process.
100
The performances of Close and Silver are flawless, but it is Irons' portrait that remains behind, an enigmatic after-image… Reversal of Fortune is a delectable tour through facets of the lives of the rich and famous that Robin Leach wouldn't touch with a forked stick. [17 Oct 1990]
88
Mesmerizing.
80
What's fun about this movie is the sight of Mr. Irons's Claus stalking the mansion like a tall, skinny ghost smiling at the perverseness of it all. [18 Oct 1990, p.A14(E)]
60
Dershowitz's life-enhancing scenes are flatulent, and they're dishonest: the movie seems to be putting us down for enjoying the scandal satire it's dishing up. [19 Nov 1990]
Jan 7, 2015
7
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. continue reading my review on my blog, google cinema omnivore, thanks.
Production Company:
- Sovereign Pictures
- Reversal Films Inc.
- Shochiku-Fuji Company
Release Date:Oct 17, 1990
Duration:1 h 51 m
Rating:R
Tagline:The Case of Claus Von Bulow. An American Saga of Money and Mystery.
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
20/20 Awards
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
