'Jury Duty' Blu-ray: 12 Angry Weasels Buuddy

The Mill Creek Entertainment well-remastered "I Heart '90s" slate of June 4, 2019 Blu-ray releases of films from that era adds memorable ones to that collection. This additionally nicely builds on the even-better "Retro VHS" MCE line of Blu-ray and DVD releases that the MCE section of this site prominently features. 

Our topic du jour is the 1995 Pauly Shore comedy "Jury Duty." Posts in the not-too-distant future will discuss the Dana Carvey comedy "Opportunity Knocks" and the Alicia Silverstone action-adventure comedy "Excess Baggage," which are fellow June 4, 2019 MCE "90s" BD releases. Even more surprises will come in the next few weeks. 

Shore, who looks like the test-tube baby of flamboyant fitness guru Richard Simmons, puts his outrageous weasel persona, which can be considered the junior-high version of Matthew McConaughey, to good use in this tale of not-so-lovable loser Tommy Collins embracing the titular civic responsibility. 

The larger picture is that "Jury" semi-successfully blatantly parodies the American obsession with the trial of the century in the "O.J." era. This context, combined with "Jury" being a showcase for Shore during his heyday, make the movie the entertaining guilty pleasure that MCE intends. 

The following YouTube clip of a "Jury" trailer highlights the classic teenboycom elements of the film. We get a glimpse of the silly pranks, the innocent homophobic humor, and the overall non-stop silliness. 

As indicated above, the appeal of "Jury" relates to the film playing it safe. This begins with joining the ranks of several TV Land sitcoms that parody the theme of one hold-out juror that is a central element of the STAR-STUDDED MUST-SEE 1957 Henry Fonda courtroom drama "12 Angry Men." "Jury" looks to Hollywood royalty Shelly Winters to be the real-life A-lister who appears in such movies well past his or her prime. We also get grumpy old man Abe Vigoda playing the judge presiding in the "Jury" trial. 

The amusing central twist in "Jury" gives rise to the funniest segment in the film. Tommy very abruptly finding himself evicted from the double-wide of Mom embraces the coincidental call to duty by the State of California. His motive is securing a place to stay until he once again can put a tin roof over his head. 

The aforementioned laughs come during the montage in which Tommy sabotages his chances for being selected as a juror on a trial that is expected to be short and sweet. These antics include claiming to know a bewildered defendant,

Our lead finds a Shore thing in the murder trial of suspected serial killer Carl Wayne Bishop, who allegedly has an extreme prejudice against fast-food joint managers. A conjugal visit between Tommy and Bishop is a highlight. It seems that Bishop gets to do to Tommy what many cinephiles would like to inflict on Shore. 

Attempted hilarity ensues as Tommy goes to great lengths to prolong the outwardly wham, bam, fry 'em Sir case. Having Tommy bunk with his former high-school principal/current co-juror contributes more humor.

Anyone who has seen "Men" or ANY of the aforementioned classic shows that pay homage to it know that Tommy ultimately sees that justice is served. It is equally predictable that he gets the babe; the rest of the story opens itself up to a parody of the teencom "Legally Blonde."