I remember when I first read The Pelican Brief, another John Grisham "thriller" that was adapted into a slick Hollywood movie. I wasn't a big fan. And I was bemused by the fact that it did actually revolve around a plot point that concerned penguins. I had the same reaction when I got around to watching the movie.
Julia Roberts plays Darby Shaw, a young law student who comes up with a hypothetical link between some recent deaths that turns out not to be as hypothetical as she may have first thought. Denzel Washington is Gray Grantham, an investigative reporter who could be a great help to Darby, if she can really trust him. Politicians are nervy, but a chameleonic hitman (Stanley Tucci) remains calm as he looks to tie up a lot of loose ends.
Adapted and directed by Alan J. Pakula, a man who would seem to be as good a fit for the material as Pollack was for The Firm, the biggest thing working against The Pelican Brief is the weak source material. It's a decent idea, but the actual details are a bit too dull to hang the plot on, and the tense set-pieces are hampered by the fact that viewers will have a hard time thinking that the entire chain of events has a decent risk to reward ratio.
Roberts and Washington give the star turns they are paid to give, both doing well with roles that need their charisma to make the film even remotely watchable, and Tucci is sadly underused in a role he doesn't really fit. There's the usual great supporting cast though, including Sam Shepard, John Heard, Tony Goldwyn, William Atherton, Robert Culp, Hume Cronyn, John Lithgow, Anthony Heald, Cynthia Nixon, and Jake Weber. Whether you like them or not, many of these performers have very recognisable faces, even if you have to later search online to remember where you last saw them.
I was hoping that this rewatch would give me something else to mention. Me being a bit older, and sometimes a bit more patient, could maybe allow me to appreciate aspects of the film that I completely ignored when younger. But no, nothing here feels worthy of praise. The cinematography feels as dull as the material at times, I have already forgotten every part of the James Horner score, and, as rude as this may seem to say, even the wardrobe choices and production design, and other technical aspects, come across as a bit . . . lethargic and uninspired. It's almost as if the screenplay was putting everyone to sleep, leading to them throwing everything together as quickly and cheaply as possible.
I doubt I'll ever go back to this. Although there are a few Grisham adaptations I have yet to see, I'd put this one very near the bottom of the pile. And that is coming from someone who didn't mind Christmas With The Kranks.
4/10
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