I, the Jury (1982)

41% of users liked it
(327 ratings)

Larry Cohen wrote the screenplay to this updating of Mickey Spillane's notorious 1947 novel. Cohen was originally engaged to direct the film as well but was pulled from the director's chair after a week's worth of shooting because he had already run up the budget by $100,000; he was replaced by… More Larry Cohen wrote the screenplay to this updating of Mickey Spillane's notorious 1947 novel. Cohen was originally engaged to direct the film as well but was pulled from the director's chair after a week's worth of shooting because he had already run up the budget by $100,000; he was replaced by television director Richard T. Heffron. In this 1982 I, the Jury, Mike Hammer (Armand Assante) is a Vietnam veteran who wears hip duds and drives around in a bronze Trans Am in much the same way as Robert Mitchum's Philip Marlowe was refurbished for Michael Winner's re-make of The Big Sleep. After a cheesy rip-off of a James Bond-style credit sequence, the story kicks in. One-armed detective Jack Williams (Frederick Downs) is murdered. Jack was Hammer's best friend, and Hammer decides that he will become a one-man vigilante squad and seek vengeance on the person responsible for his death. He enlists the aid of his vivacious secretary Velda (Laurene Landon) and is also helped and hindered by police-chief Pat Chambers (Paul Sorvino). Hammer latches on to the killer's trail, then the film veers in a radically different direction from the book, introducing government conspiracies and mind-control techniques by the CIA and the Mafia. Also introduced is Hammer's love interest Charlotte Bennett (Barbara Carrera), an administrator of a kinky sex clinic (depicted as a psychiatrist in the original novel). ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 49 min.
Directed By: Richard T. Heffron
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Apr 22, 1982 Wide
On DVD: Jul 26, 1990

Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Like most other of Spillane's Hammer series put to celluloid it comes out well-short of the novel.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
The central fault in this updating is Mike Hammer, whose character was lost in the shuffle while updating from the fifties to the eighties.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

No Featured Audience Ratings Found…

Cast

            Armand Assante as Mike Hammer

            Barbara Carrera as Charlotte Bennett

            Laurene Landon as Velda

            Alan King as Charles Kalecki

            Geoffrey Lewis as Joe Butler

            Paul Sorvino as Pat Chambers

            Judson Earney Scott as Kendricks

            Barry Snider as Romero

            Julia Barr as Norma Childs

            Jessica James as Hilda Kendricks

            Frederic Downs as Jack Williams

            Lee Anne Harris as First twin

            Lynette Harris as Second Twin

            Mary Margaret Amato as Myrna Williams

            Corinne Bohrer as Soap Opera Actress

            Jack Davidson as Eric Clavel

            Daniel Faraldo as Danny

            Ernest Harada as Chef

            F.J. O'Neil as Goodwin

            Larry Pine as Movie Director

            William G. Schilling as Lundee

            Don Pike as Evans

            Alex Stevens as 1st Cab Driver

            Joe Farago as Assistant Director

            Richard Russell Ramos as 2nd Cab Driver

            Norm Blankenship
            
            Bobbi Burns as Sheila Kyle

            Alan Dellay as Cameraman

            Lee Doyle
            
            Herb Peterson
            
            H. Richard Greene as Gentleman at Bar

            Michael Miller as Victor Kyle
See full cast

Now you can share movies with your friends on Facebook!

Discover movies your friends are watching
Keep track of what you want to see
Add your reviews to your Timeline

Get Started