Jury Duty (1995)

Unemployed Tommy gets a jury duty notification and, although initially inclined to disregard it, is compelled to change his mind, the reason being that he is now temporarily homeless and as a juror he will get free housing and food during the time of the trial. He chooses the case against a man accused of murdering several fast-food restaurant workers.

While this is not top-quality comedy, it is inventive enough for a few laughs and an overall good time. The curious thing is that it displays an above-average uninhibition to talk about certain subjects that no one seems willing to talk about lately, for example the problem of immigration in America. Part of this is done is a very disguised manner through the story of the man at whose trial the protagonist is a juror. The defendant is a very angry-looking white man who lost his job and is now being accused of making threats against and even murdering people who have the same kind of job that he used  to have. The immigration connection is probably barely distinguishable for the unattentive viewer, although the witnesses to his threats are all ethnic Americans. On the other hand, there are more explicit bits which involve another character, a hispanic juror who has just been granted the American citizenship. He continually praises America and the American system, and at one point the protagonist replies: "Yes, and you can even drink the water." Later in the film, the hispanic man states that in his original country the defendant would not have the benefit of a fair trial; and so on. Another curious bit from this movie is the quotation of a shot from Fireworks (the milk shower), a very weird short film from the 40s.

Rating: 50