Blu-ray Review: Jury Duty (Retro VHS Look)

Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

The silly comedy Encino Man was of my favorite guilty pleasure movies from the early '90s. Yes, it was completely stupid, but for some reason it appealed to me during my pre-teen years. Pauly Shore was one of the co-stars in the film and he went on to star in several similar comedies during the '90s, including 1995's Jury Duty, which was released to Blu-ray earlier this month from Mill Creek Entertainment as part of their Retro VHS series.

Directed by John Fortenberry, the film is more of a spoof of 12 Angry Men, where an unemployed Tommy Collins (played by Pauly Shore) finds himself out of a home when his mother and her boyfriend take their mobile home to Las Vegas to get married. Tommy and his chihuahua Peanuts are now homeless, well, that is until he receives a jury summons!

Tommy becomes one of the 12 jurors for a murder trial and as jury foreman he deliberately delays the verdict just so he can be paid $5 per day, get free meals, and live in a nice hotel room (also for free). While attempting to convinced the other jurors of reasonable doubt, he begins to believe the murderer is actually innocent.

Rounding out the rest of the cast is Tia Carrere, Brian Doyle-Murray, Stanley Tucci, Abe Vigoda, Charles Napier, and Shelley Winters.

Final Thoughts

Jury Duty might not be the greatest movie ever made, but it didn't deserve to be trashed by the critics back in 1995. Yes, the plot is silly and the humor is wacky, but it's all in good fun. There's nothing wrong with watching a mindless comedy as long as there are a few good laughs.

The picture and sound quality on the Blu-ray are both excellent. Like most Mill Creek Entertainment releases there are no special features or bonus extras.

Overall, Jury Duty (PG-13; $14.98; 88 minutes) is a fun underrated '90s comedy that will hopefully find a few new fans through this Blu-ray release.

*Note: I received a review copy from Mill Creek Entertainment. 

All opinions are my own.