The Firm (1993)

One of two movies released in 1993 that kick-started an extra-lucrative time in the career of writer John Grisham, The Firm is an enjoyable thriller that focuses on the legal hoops the lead character needs to jump through, while also adding one or two more visceral moments for those wanting immediate thrills in their thrillers.

Tom Cruise is Mitch McDeere, a brilliant young lawyer who is given an offer he can't refuse from a prestigious law firm. He and his wife (Abby, played by Jeanne Tripplehorn) have to relocate, and there are long working days in his near future, but the rewards seem well worth the investment, especially as he is taken under the wing of Avery Tolar (Gene Hackman). Things seem a bit too good to be true though, which means they are. It turns out that the law firm has one or two secrets, and someone may be willing to kill to keep them secret.

There are very few movies adapted from John Grisham novels that don't benefit from having a stacked cast, but The Firm remains a high watermark. Alongside Cruise, Tripplehorn, and Hackman, you get Hal Holbrook, Wilford Brimley, Ed Harris, Holly Hunter, David Strathairn, Gary Busey, Tobin Bell, and Dean Norris. There are also two main supporting roles for Terry Kinney and Barbara Garrick, people you will know by sight even if you can't put a face to their names right now. This is a Grisham movie, but it's also very much an actor's movie, and there's nobody here who disappoints (although Bell and Norris are very much locked in to the role of the "deadly stranger" required to add the proper physical threat alongside the legal wrangling, which is saying something in a film that also brings in Paul Sorvino and Joe Viterelli before the end credits roll.

Adapted from the novel by David Rabe, David Rayfiel, and the legendary Robert Towne, things are paced really well as viewers are introduced to the onscreen world, start learning some of the jargon, or at least have enough context clues to get the gist, and can then share the unease as some characters start to become suspicious about the way business is being conducted by the firm. The cast are all very capable of selling the dialogue, and Sydney Pollack once again shows himself to be one of the best in the business when it comes to presenting some potentially dry and dull material in a way that feels impressively engaging and propulsive.

It's hard to pin down why this works as well as it does, and those familiar with the novel may disagree (I know many were unhappy with how the ending changed from page to screen), but the main thing is a feeling of quality, as well as the way in which the plot has been made easily understandable without seeming too patronising. There are a few elements I can point to as being sub-par, maybe some of the score and some of the make up being used to show how tired and strained Cruise is in the second half, and some may be put off by the fact that the runtime is 154 minutes, but I would generally recommend this to anyone after blockbuster entertainment that focuses on the cast ahead of any random explosions and special effects.

8/10

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