THE JUROR is the story of a woman who almost too eagerly volunteers to be on the jury in the murder trial of a Mafia godfather. Many people would happily rather not serve on such a jury, but not Annie Laird. The judge asks her if she's read about the case. She says no - but she's heard about it from her son (!) from whom she's heard about the defendant. Her son said he's "the big Spaghetti-O" in the mob (the courtroom giggles).

She says THAT in an open courtroom, with the accused murderer and his henchmen sitting right there. Wouldn't a mother's instincts at least prompt her not to mention her child? Geez! Is she a complete dummy?Now, she's asked for it. In fact, she gets it throughout a movie that maybe could have been whittled down into a nice little thriller, but winds up long-winded and rambling.

Demi Moore maintains an uncanny self-possession, especially if you compare her work with the "scorched-earth" performance of Sally Field in the oddly similar "Eye for an Eye," which had come out just three weeks before THE JUROR.

Both movies have the same buried plot: Mom fears her child will be killed by a violent nut, so she takes the law into her own hands. But "Eye for an Eye" is offensive in its manipulative arguments for vigilante justice. "The Juror" wasn't as bad because the heroine doesn't deliberately choose her course: Itis forced upon her. Maybe it's splitting hairs, but JUROR burfies its moral philosophy in the genre of a thriller. "Eye for an Eye" plays like an ad for handguns!

James Gandolfini, as Eddie, "The Teacher's" sidekick, gave a terrific (pre-Sopranos) performance. His is a very tricky role, as a Mafia soldier who is about as sympathetic as a man can be who would, after all, kill you. His line readings during a couple of complicated scenes are right on the money (notice the careful way he learns from "The "Teacher" about the death of Annie's friend).

If THE JUROR had been presented at the level of sophistication and complexity that Eddie's character suggests then it would have been a lot better movie. Of course, it would have been a different movie, too. I could have lived with that ( ... and so could have the rest of the disgruntled viewers!)