John Grisham's first couple of best-sellers - The Firm, The Pelican Brief and The Client - were fairly lively page-turners, but none of them received very strong adaptations to the big screen, which is a true shame. The Firm, especially, was a total mess, but The Pelican Brief is only slightly better.
Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. Tulane law student Julia Roberts compiles a brief, which identifies a subtle link between the two which may have been the motivation for the assassinations. She does it as a lark, not realizing that her mentor and sometime boyfriend Sam Shepard would pass it on as a document of interest to contacts in the government. Next thing she knows she is on the run from assassins and attempts on her life, with only the help of idealistic journalist Denzel Washington.
The story definitely requires some suspension of disbelief to get off the ground. In the novel, it was possible because Grisham kept the pace nimble and kept the action moving. In the film, the credibility issue stands out like a sore thumb largely because the pace is so sluggish. The lead character of Darby Shaw is so bland that it quite frankly does not seem possible for her to have conspired this brief nor that anyone would consider her much of a threat. Alan J. Pakula, usually a director of some merit, stages the assassinations on the two Justices totally devoid of tension or style. It is almost like witnessing a commercial for insomnia. Thankfully, he rouses himself a bit more later in the film. There is a nice moment where he contrasts Roberts and Stanley Tucci, as a killer, readying themselves for a meeting.
The film picks up in the latter half, which prevents it from becoming a complete misfire. Yet, even with that, it still fails to catch fire and does not do justice to its source.
Roberts would seem ideal casting, but Darby Shaw is such a cipher that the role fails to give her much to sink her teeth into. Even worse, Pakula has apparently instructed her to restrain her natural on screen ebullience which robs the part of much needed life. It is only towards the end that Roberts really seems to be enjoying herself on screen.
It must have seemed like a great coup to cast Roberts opposite Washington, but alas the two have zero chemistry together. With Roberts restrained close to passivity, Washington goes all star turn and fails to connect at all with the other actors or his leading lady. Oftentimes it seems like he is reciting his lines directly to an audience rather than the people in the same scene, an approach that wears thin quickly.
There are no real surprises in the story and with a leaden first half, the film falls well short of thriller status. Still, it is a much better effort than Sydney Pollack's atrocious adaptation of The Firm and not as fatuous as Joel Schumacher's The Client. Grisham fans would still be well-advised to stick to the book.
Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. Tulane law student Julia Roberts compiles a brief, which identifies a subtle link between the two which may have been the motivation for the assassinations. She does it as a lark, not realizing that her mentor and sometime boyfriend Sam Shepard would pass it on as a document of interest to contacts in the government. Next thing she knows she is on the run from assassins and attempts on her life, with only the help of idealistic journalist Denzel Washington.
The story definitely requires some suspension of disbelief to get off the ground. In the novel, it was possible because Grisham kept the pace nimble and kept the action moving. In the film, the credibility issue stands out like a sore thumb largely because the pace is so sluggish. The lead character of Darby Shaw is so bland that it quite frankly does not seem possible for her to have conspired this brief nor that anyone would consider her much of a threat. Alan J. Pakula, usually a director of some merit, stages the assassinations on the two Justices totally devoid of tension or style. It is almost like witnessing a commercial for insomnia. Thankfully, he rouses himself a bit more later in the film. There is a nice moment where he contrasts Roberts and Stanley Tucci, as a killer, readying themselves for a meeting.
The film picks up in the latter half, which prevents it from becoming a complete misfire. Yet, even with that, it still fails to catch fire and does not do justice to its source.
Roberts would seem ideal casting, but Darby Shaw is such a cipher that the role fails to give her much to sink her teeth into. Even worse, Pakula has apparently instructed her to restrain her natural on screen ebullience which robs the part of much needed life. It is only towards the end that Roberts really seems to be enjoying herself on screen.
It must have seemed like a great coup to cast Roberts opposite Washington, but alas the two have zero chemistry together. With Roberts restrained close to passivity, Washington goes all star turn and fails to connect at all with the other actors or his leading lady. Oftentimes it seems like he is reciting his lines directly to an audience rather than the people in the same scene, an approach that wears thin quickly.
There are no real surprises in the story and with a leaden first half, the film falls well short of thriller status. Still, it is a much better effort than Sydney Pollack's atrocious adaptation of The Firm and not as fatuous as Joel Schumacher's The Client. Grisham fans would still be well-advised to stick to the book.