In a plot outrageously close to 1994's Trial By Jury (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer is the juror tormented into changing her verdict by a decidedly unfriendly William Hurt), Moore stars as poor, struggling sculptress and fiercely protective single mother Annie Laird, empanelled for the murder trial of a "big spaghettio" gangster.
Having sized her up as the most vulnerable of the good "men" and true - and the one he'd most love to abuse - the Mob's suavest, most ruthless meanie, The Teacher (Baldwin in psychotic new man guise) devises a remorseless strategy of seduction and terrorisation so that Annie will do a Henry Fonda in the jury room and swing a Not Guilty verdict. However, she and her imperilled offspring, Oliver (Gordon-Levitt), are not only photogenic but gutsy, and dare to fight back, initiating desperate gambits, ghastly reprisals and deadly chases.
Adapted from George Dawes Green's very Grisham-esque page-turner, this is a slick psycho-thriller, proficient in scares and sick twists; but its hard work mustering much sweaty involvement, so far-fetched is it all. Only those who believe for one minute that Moore is a near-destitute but passionately committed artist (residing in what looks suspiciously like a luxurious mansion) might let her efforts at subtlety in the Twelve Angry Men-style courtroom sequences pass without a titter.
Less amusing, however, is the perverse, nasty strain and the prominent child murder theme which is more horribly tasteless on the screen than on the page. And eventually the machinations and long-distance pursuits become as exhausting to watch as they must have been for the protagonists to undertake. So let this be a lesson to us all: never wear clingy black if you're ever summoned to jury duty, and always be wary of a man who quotes Lao-Tsu on the first date.
