Year of Release: 1993
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Stars: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard, John Heard, Tony Goldwyn, James Sikking, William Atherton, Robert Culp, Cynthia Nixon, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Anthony Heald, Nicholas Woodeson, Hume Cronyn, Stanley Anderson
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Synopsis:
The early 90s featured quite a diverse number of John Grisham book adaptations (all initially quite successful): besides "The Pelican Brief", there were Sydney Pollack's "The Firm" and Joel Schumacher's "The Client" and "A Time to Kill". "The Pelican Brief" featured a female central character, but the overall structure of the film was similar to other adaptations of Grisham's work: a young idealistic attorney (or law student), had to fight to expose a criminal conspiracy, while remaining truthful to his values and protect his loved ones. Alan J. Pakula managed to create an involving and suspenseful film, polished in its execution, allowing for the actors to create characters that though somewhat limited in scope, were nonetheless enticing to maintain the dynamics of the narrative (the archetypes are all there, namely the older lover, the faceless killer, the young idealistic and beautiful law student, etc). It's a film that though not surprising, it's effectively entertaining and well acted. Worth watching.
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