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

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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?

Runaway Jury (2003) - Gun violence trial as Hollywood show

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+ Worst Poster of the Year

Formally dressed stars eye each other uneasily under a blurry photograph on this dubious poster for Runaway Jury

A madman mows down 11 people at an office, and a widow to one of the slain subsequently sues the gun company. The principal trial gets a jury, zealous lawyers, - and an X factor ...

Runaway Jury is written by Brian Koppelman (Runner Runner (2013)), David Levien (Rounders (1998)), Rick Cleveland (Nurse Jackie (2009-10)) and Matthew Chapman (Heart of Midnight (1988)), adapting The Runaway Jury (1996) by John Grisham (The Summons (2002)), and directed by Gary Fleder (Kiss the Girls (1997)).
The biggest problem for this over-written courtroom thriller set in New Orleans is that it lacks a hero: Gene Hackman (Split Decisions (1988)) is definitely the villain of the piece; Dustin Hoffman (Stranger Than Fiction (2006)) may have been thought of as the hero, being the lawyer representing the widow's case, (but it is a grotesque case in my opinion.) John Cusack (Adult World (2013)) and Rachel Weisz (Death Machine (1994)) both play manipulative and greedy characters, whose real aim is only revealed in Runaway Jury's poorly closed up ending.
The film also suffers from superficial music video-style editing, which lowers the realism in the material and ruptures any thematic weight it may have carried. Robert Elswit's (Salt (2010)) photography is seamless, and Hackman lets loose; especially he and Hoffman's bathroom scene has the show movie energy that this film is still worth watching for. The American gun ownership issue at the core of the film remains pretty much unchanged today.

 

Related post:

 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a VHS tape teaser for the film here

Cost: 60 mil. $
Box office: 80.1 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.33 times its cost)
[Runaway Jury premiered 9 October (USA) and runs 127 minutes. Since pre-production had started in 1997, filmmakers Joel Schumacher and Mike Newell and stars Will Smith and Edward Norton had been attached at various points. The plot was changed from a tobacco focus to guns following the release of tobacco-focused The Insider (1999). Shooting took place in Louisiana, including New Orleans, and in Los Angeles, California in and around September 2002. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and holdover hit Kill Bill: Vol. 1, to an 11.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another week in the top 5 (#4) and grossed 49.4 mil. $ (61.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 3.8 mil. $ (4.7 %) and Italy and France at a shared #3 with 3.7 mil. $ (4.6 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. Grisham in 2004 called the film "smart" and "suspenseful" but was disappointed with its theatrical performance. Fleder returned with 11 TV episodes in 3 different TV-series before hitting big screens again with The Express (2008). Cusack returned in Must Love Dogs (2005); Hackman in Welcome to Mooseport (2004) - his final movie; Hoffman in Finding Neverland (2004) and Weisz in Envy (2004). Runaway Jury is fresh at 73 % with a 6.56/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Runaway Jury?

The Firm (1993) - Pollack and Cruise scored big with 1993's lesser Grisham adaptation

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+ 3rd Worst Movie of the Year

Tom Cruise looking ponderous and running in a suit in a steely blue-toned poster for Sydney Pollack's The Firm could really sell a film in 1993

A freshly Harvard-graduated lawyer joins a firm in Memphis that launders mob money, and he soon gets the attention of the FBI.

The Firm is written by David Rabe (Streamers (1983)), Robert Towne (Drive, He Said (1971)) and David Rayfiel (The Morning After (1986)), adapting John Grisham's (The Summons (2002)) same-titled 1991 bestseller, and directed by great Indianan filmmaker Sydney Pollack (Tootsie (1982)). 1993 saw the release of another high-profile Grisham adaptation, Alan J. Pakula's infinitely better thriller masterpiece The Pelican Brief.
The Memphis law-firm is presented as an almost mythical, pompous institution, and the story's point of having this firm laundering the entire earnings of the Chicago mob seems a bit silly. But besides this the narrative unfolds without a hitch, as an intimidating gang of fine actors (including Gene Hackman (Wyatt Earp (1994)), Ed Harris (Sweetwater (2013)), Hal Holbrook (Haven (2001, TV movie)), Jerry Harding (The Magnificent Seven (1998, TV-series)) and others) doodle around to Dave Grusin's jazzy piano score.
Tom Cruise (The Mummy (2017)) leads confidently, but his wife is played without vision by Jeanne Tripplehorn (Steal This Movie (2000)), and since The Firm places considerable weight upon their relationship, - and has a long running time, - it lowers the suspense, which lives best in the film's noirish, cat-and-mouse-like scenes.

Related post:

Sydney Pollack: Eyes Wide Shut (1999) - Kubrick signs off with thrilling, sexually oriented adaptation (actor) 

1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Watch a 2-minute clip from the beginning of the film here

Cost: 42 mil. $
Box office: 270.2 mil. $
= Huge hit
[The Firm premiered 23 June (New York) and runs 154 minutes. Shooting took place in Washington, Memphis, Tennessee, the Cayman Islands, Massachusetts, including Boston, Arkansas, and Washington, D.C. from November 1992 - March 1993. Hackman's credit was a matter of dispute, as Cruise's contract stipulated above-title credit for him alone. Hackman got pre-title credit in the film and went uncredited in the end credit scroll and on the posters. The film is reportedly faithful to the novel in most respects but has a different ending. The film opened #1 to a 25.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed atop for another two weeks and stayed in the top 5 for two more weeks (#3-#3) and grossed 158.3 mil. $ (58.6 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this review. The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Supporting Actress (Holly Hunter, who won the Best Actress Oscar that year for her performance in The Piano), lost to Anna Paquin in The Piano, and Best Score (Grusin), lost to John Williams for Schindler's List. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, a Grammy and received other honors. A TV-series sequel also called The Firm was released in 2012 and canceled after its first season. Pollack returned with Sabrina (1995). Cruise returned in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994). The Firm is certified fresh at 76 % with a 6.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Firm?