The Pelican Brief (1993) - Everything works in phenomenal Pakula thriller

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

A great pitch tagline (if you can make it out) and an intense close-up of co-star Julia Roberts make up most of this murky poster for Alan J. Pakula's The Pelican Brief

An ambitious, smart law student writes a sensational brief on the possible perpetrators of a double assassination of two Supreme Court Justices, - which makes her a hunted target.

 

The Pelican Brief is written, co-produced and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Alan J. Pakula (The Sterile Cuckoo (1969)), whose 15th feature it was. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1992 novel by John Grisham (The Street Lawyer (1998)).

Pakula makes this murky political thriller come alive as an eminent film. James Horner (Titanic (1997)) has written a classical suspense score across it, and Grisham's plot is not more far-fetched than what we are willing to swallow to stay in this 'ride', which has exciting locations in Washington DC and New Orleans.

The cast is super, led by arguably the greatest actors of their generation, Denzel Washington (2 Guns (2013)) and Julia Roberts (Closer (2004)), - SPOILER who may not get each other here. On the other hand the ending is a salute to Roberts and her splendid student character here, and it is right on.

John Lithgow (The Crown (2016-19)) is also worth highlighting in the part of an editor here. At more than one point, the film succeeds with good old-fashioned Hitchcockian suspense, and coupled with the progressive lead casting, it makes The Pelican Brief a chief work in the modern thriller genre.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $

Box office: 195.2 mil. $ 

= Big hit (returned 4.33 times the cost)

[The Pelican Brief premiered 17 September (Canada) and runs 141 minutes. Roberts was paid 8 mil. $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from May - September 1993 in Washington DC and in New Orleans, Louisiana. The film opened #1 to a 16.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and then another 3 in the top 5 (#2-#2-#5), grossing 100.7 mil. $ (51.6 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Pakula returned with The Devil's Own (1997). Roberts returned in I Love Trouble (1994); Washington in Philadelphia (1993). The Pelican Brief is rotten at 54 % with a 5.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Pelican Brief?

The New World (2005) - Exquisite images in hard-to-take Malick drama

♥♥

+ Most Deserved Flop of the Year

Swept in cloudy skies, violence and romance are promised on this muted colored poster for Terrence Malick's The New World

As strange ships arrive from the East in 1608, Pocahontas and her tribes' lives are soon changed forever.

The New World is written and directed by Illinoisan master filmmaker Terrence Malick (Badlands (1973)), whose 4th feature it is.

It is a film that divides its audiences sharply. Those who see the light in The New World really see the light in it. There is no question that Emmanuel Lubezki's (The Harvest (1993)) photography is exceptionally beautiful and that James Horner's (Flightplan (2005)) score is commendable, (although little of the music in the film is actually Horner's, due to Malick's unconventional way of working.)

Malick's nature-romantisizing and pseudo-poetical style in a film where, for the longest stretches of it, nothing seems to happen, are deeply aggravating to me. Colin Farrell (Ondine (2009)) as Captain John Smith is mostly inexplicable in terms of the film's plot and stands back as eye-candy in a pompous, women's magazine style drama.

Related posts:

Terrence Malick: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

The Tree of Life (2011) or, Mother, Father, Sharks, Dinosaurs, My Brothers, Sunflowers, the Desert, the Wind and Me 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Top 10: The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Badlands (1973) or, Kit and Holly in Love

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 30 mil. $

Box office: 49.3 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.64 times its cost)

[The New World premiered 25 December (US) and runs 136 minutes, with the first limited release version running 150 minutes. Malick had been working on the script for the film since the late 1970s. When his planned Che Guevara film failed to materialize, he instead found support for this film. Shooting took place from July - November 2004 in England and Virginia. The film opened #44 to a 30k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 811 theaters, grossing 12.7 mil. $ (25.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 3.9 mil. $ (7.9 %) and Italy with 3.5 mil. $ (7.1 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Cinematography, lost to Dion Beebe for Memoirs of a Geisha. It also won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 4 notches over this one. Horner was deeply unsatisfied with his collaboration with Malick, who cut and edited his film right up the time of release, leaving little room for the long score Horner had devised: "I never felt so let down by a filmmaker in my life", he has said. The Pocahontas-Smith romance is usually considered to be a fictional invention, as Pocahontas would have been 12, when she first met Smith. Malick returned with The Tree of Life (2011). Farrell returned in Ask the Dust (2006); Q'orianka Kilcher (The Alienist (2018, TV-series)), who plays Pocahontas, returned in Princess Kaiulani (2009). The New World is fresh at 63 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The New World?

Glory (1989) - Production and towering performances drive Zwick's captivating Civil War epic

♥♥♥♥♥

 

A picturesque, dramatic, beautifully colored dramatization of a US Civil War scene makes up this fine poster for Edward Zwick's Glory

In 1862 during the American Civil War, Colonel Shaw of the Northern Union army is tasked with forming its first unit made up of African-American soldiers; the men's engagement is finally honored in battle.

Glory is written by Kevin Jarre (Rambo - First Blood Part 2 (1985, story)), based on the letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and novels Lay This Laurel (1973) by Lincoln Kirstein (Paul Cadmus (1984)) and One Gallant Rush (1965) by Peter Burchard (Jed (1960, short story)), and directed by great Illinoisan filmmaker Edward Zwick (About Last Night (1986)).

The film is an enormously handsome production, and James Horner's (Vibes (1988)) score is deeply affecting. Zwick gets masterful performances from especially Denzel Washington (A Soldier's Story (1984)), who shines up against Morgan Freeman (Nurse Betty (2000)), Matthew Broderick (Marie and Bruce (2004)) and Cary Elwes (Walk the Talk (2007)).

Glory also has a truly captivating story with real presence of history to it. It therefore disappoints some to note that the film apparently has several factual errors in it.

Still this is arguably Zwick's finest film, a nearly masterful work.

 

Related posts:
 

Edward Zwick: The Great Wall/长城/Cháng Chéng (2016) - Damon appears foolish in unexciting, major US-Chinese monster turkey (co-writer)

Pawn Sacrifice (2014) - Zwick, Knight and Maguire's mediocre chess genius movie 

Blood Diamond (2006) - Fundamentally flawed, unsuccessful Africa-venture with important issues at its core

Watch a short 30th anniversary teaser for the film from TCM here

Cost: 18 mil. $

Box office: 26.9 mil. $ - North America only

= Uncertain

[Glory was released 15 December (USA) and runs 122 minutes. Shooting took place from February - April 1989 in Georgia and Massachusetts, including Boston. The film contains several factual errors/fictional inventions: No soldiers marched in cold mud without boots at the time; flogging had been abolished; and the majority of the unit's soldiers were not former slaves, - among other things. The film opened #17 to a 63k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #8 and in 811 theaters, grossing 26.8 mil. $. It is impossible to ascertain the film's box office status without international gross numbers. The North-American gross alone only gives the film status as 'big flop', but the world gross could be high enough to alter this - or perhaps it wasn't. The film was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning 3: It won for Best Supporting Actor (Washington), Cinematography (Freddie Francis (Our Virgin Island (1958))) and Sound. It lost Best Art/Set Decoration to Batman and Editing to Born on the Fourth of July. It also won 1/5 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a BAFTA, won a Grammy and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Zwick returned with Thirtysomething (1987-90) and theatrically with Leaving Normal (1992). Broderick returned in The Freshman (1990); Washington in Heart Condition (1990); Elwes in Days of Thunder (1990); and Freeman in The Earth Day Special (1990, TV special), The Civil War (1990, TV documentary miniseries) and theatrically in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990). Glory is certified fresh at 93 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Glory?