''Reversal of Fortune'' is a 1990 American drama film adapted from the 1985 book ''Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case'', written by law professor Alan Dershowitz. It recounts the true story of the unexplained

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

of socialite Sunny von Bülow, the subsequent

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven y ...

trial, and the eventual

acquittal In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

of her husband, Claus von Bülow, who had Dershowitz as his defense attorney. The film was directed by

Barbet Schroeder Barbet Schroeder (born 26 August 1941) is an Iranian-born Swiss film director and producer who started his career in French cinema in the 1960s, working with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette. Since the late 1980s, he has dire ...

and stars Jeremy Irons as Claus, Glenn Close as Sunny, and Ron Silver as Dershowitz. Screenwriter Nick Kazan originally envisioned Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer in the role of Claus von Bülow, but was thrilled with Irons' performance. Irons earned the 1990

Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...

for his performance in the film.

Plot

The story is narrated by Sunny von Bülow, who is in a coma after falling into diabetic shock after a Christmas party. Her husband, the dissolute European aristocrat Claus von Bülow, is charged with attempting to murder the

hypoglycemic Hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's triad is used to properly identify hypoglycemic episodes. It is defined as blood glucose belo ...

Sunny by giving her an overdose of

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism ...

. Claus's strained relationship with his wife and his cold and haughty personal demeanor led most people to conclude that he is guilty. In need of an innovative defense, Claus turns to law professor Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz is initially convinced of Claus's guilt, but takes the case because von Bülow agrees to fund Dershowitz's defense of two poor black boys accused of capital murder. Employing his law students as workers, Dershowitz proceeds to defend Claus, wrestling with his client's unnerving personal style and questions of von Bülow's guilt or innocence.

Cast

* Glenn Close as Sunny von Bülow * Jeremy Irons as Claus von Bülow * Ron Silver as Alan Dershowitz * Uta Hagen as Maria * Annabella Sciorra as Sarah * Fisher Stevens as David Marriott * Jack Gilpin as Peter MacIntosh *

Christine Baranski Christine Jane Baranski (born May 2, 1952) is an American actress. She is a 15-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, winning once in 1995 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Maryann Thorpe in the sitcom ''Cybill'' ...

as Andrea Reynolds * Stephen Mailer as Elon Dershowitz *

Felicity Huffman Felicity Kendall Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American actress. Huffman began her acting career in theatre, and in the 1990s also had many supporting roles in film and television. She starred as Dana Whitaker in the comedy-drama '' Spor ...

as Minnie *

Johann Carlo Johann Carlo (born May 21, 1957) is an American actress. Early life Carlo was born in Buffalo, New York. Career She made her Broadway debut in 1983, appearing as Louise in '' Plenty''. In 1991, she returned to Broadway for ''La Bête''. She ...

as Nancy * Keith Reddin as Dobbs * Mitchell Whitfield as Curly * Tom Wright as Jack * Michael Lord as Ed *

Lisa Gay Hamilton LisaGay Hamilton (born March 25, 1964) is an American actress who has portrayed roles in films, television, and on stage. She is best known for her role as secretary/lawyer Rebecca Washington on the ABC legal drama ''The Practice'' (1997–2003). ...

as Mary *

Julie Hagerty Julie Beth Hagerty (born June 15, 1955) is an American actress. She starred as Elaine in the films ''Airplane!'' (1980) and '' Airplane II: The Sequel'' (1982). Her other film roles include ''A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy'' (1982), ''Lost in Am ...

Alexandra Isles Alexandra Isles ( Alexandra Cornelia Moltke; born February 11, 1946) is a documentary filmmaker and former actress. She is best-known for her role as the original Victoria Winters from 1966 to 1968 on the gothic TV serial ''Dark Shadows''. Back ...

* Bill Camp as Bill *Mano Singh as Raj

Production

The film was shot in numerous estates in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, and the Knole house in Old Westbury. At least one courtroom scene was shot at the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department in Brooklyn, New York.

Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews and holds a 92% approval rating at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, with an average score of 7.9/10 from 51 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Featuring exceptional performances and a cunning script, ''Reversal of Fortune'' doubles as a tantalizing mystery and ruthless satire of the rich."

Accolades

In 2015, the 25th anniversary of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' named ''Reversal of Fortune'' on its list of the 25 best films of the past 25 years. The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

in these lists: * 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains: ** Claus von Bulow – Nominated Villain * 2008:

AFI's 10 Top 10 ''AFI's 10 Top 10'' honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute (AFI), the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008. In the special, various act ...

: ** Nominated Courtroom Drama Film

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reversal Of Fortune 1990 films 1990s biographical drama films American biographical drama films American courtroom films Films about lawyers American films based on actual events Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Barbet Schroeder Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award-winning performance Films featuring a Best Drama Actor Golden Globe winning performance Films set in Rhode Island Films set in the 1980s Warner Bros. films Films scored by Mark Isham 1990 drama films Alan Dershowitz 1990s English-language films 1990s American films