La firme

The Firm (1993)

The twist in the plot as you realize this Memphis law firm is not what it seems, and the rather innocent freshman lawyer played by Tom Cruise is slow to catch on, is the core of the movie, and a relief. It starts steadily, or slowly, depending on your patience, and in fact plays many scenes out in more detail than we need for a kind of bookish thriller. It's not a bad ride, and there are some further, minor twists, but it's not packed tightly enough, or frankly original enough, to lift its boots out of the sand.

Director Sydney Pollack, hugely successful as a director and actor, might have just had bad scriptwriting here by David Rabe, because John Grisham's book had proved itself. The acting is really solid (I'm no Cruise fan, but he's fine), but the characters are often doing things that just don't quite follow, or that are improbable or stupid. Or they end up doing something dangerous and the danger is either watered down or ridiculous. Examples that come to mind are how they show Cruise discovering or stealing or xeroxing files. We get the plot, but it lumbers along, or is just shown, not built up with suspense. The cinematographer takes a hit here, I think. Things are often nicely framed and routinely well done, but a thriller needs to hide some things, show some things, create ambiance and mystery, and so on, visually. It doesn't really happen.

So, for a kind of technical high-stakes, rich person's good-guy bad-guy suspense film, it will get you through, but barely. By the last five minutes, if you aren't sucked in, you'll want to scream "hurry up!"

Though not the best of the Grisham adaptations, this is up to the usual high standard in plot and stars that Grisham movies have become associated with. The plot on this one is a little more far-fetched probably on account of the fact that this was one of Grisham's first works, escapism and entertainment seem to be the most prominent here, other Grisham works had begun to develop other traits alongside populism, like being almost topical and seeming to make social comment on issues that Grisham must have had an inside eye on when he was actually involved in the legal business for all those years. The Rainmaker is a great example of this when a young lawyer takes on a pro bono case of a widow's suit against a rogue insurance company that wouldn't pay up on a claim for her son's illness, and who as a result died from it. You will find none of this in the Firm, it is the straightforward story of a young lawyer whose life becomes entangled in the law firm from hell, which has all the usual mafia connections and all the usual FBI hardball characters battling with the caricatures from the Mafia. It does however make great entertainment , you will soon forget how far-fetched and improbable it all is, as you will become instantly fascinated, and stick with 155 minutes of plot twists and turns.

Tom Cruise is as competent as ever in this Sydney Pollack-directed law film. I would put his film Three Days of the Condor ahead of this one though because the Firm lacks much of the excitement and well-plotted story beats. There are a few moments of suspense, but a lot of is it pretty slow-moving. The cast is fantastic though with several standout performances. The score, while good, felt very out of place in several scenes. This was also probably at least half an hour too long. The Firm is a slightly above average thriller from the 90s that provides a good starring role for Tom Cruise.

All the elements to make a hard-hitting melodrama of corruption (with FBI and Mafia aspects present) are unfolded here in a gripping yarn from John Grisham's novel. Tom Cruise is excellent as a young man who joins a small but prosperous law firm, only to discover that all the perks he enjoys come at great expense to his integrity, not to mention his life. The plot thickens when members of the firm are murdered and Cruise gets drawn into the unmasking of the firm, risking his life to reveal the criminals. Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Holly Hunter and Hal Holbrook all give strong performances, with Hunter fully deserving her Oscar nomination. The pacing is good despite the film's length (well over 2 1/2 hrs.) and there's seldom a dull moment. Especially gripping is the supercharged climax.

Not having read the book, I see where others are disappointed with the ending. Having no comparison to make, I can only say that it kept me absorbed until the final scene. Definitely a must-see if you enjoy action thrillers with a climactic punch. One of the best films of the '90s, full of suspenseful twists and turns.

When "The Firm" came out was - believe it or not - the first time that I had ever heard of Tom Cruise (although I didn't see the movie until several years later). And let me tell you, this was a great introduction. Cruise plays novice lawyer Mitch McDeere, who goes to work for a Memphis firm. With this firm, he has everything that anyone could want. But there's the question: why does everything seem so perfect? The answer lies in the firm's unseemly other side. And they're not just going to let Mitch blow their cover.

Sydney Pollack pulled off everything perfectly here. It's sort of like an Ira Levin novel how everything plays out. You may be suspicious of everything after seeing this movie. Above all, it shows that Tom Cruise can actually do a good job when he tries. Also starring Jeanne Tripplehorn, Gene Hackman, Hal Holbrook, Wilford Brimley, Ed Harris, Holly Hunter, David Strathairn and Gary Busey.

It's hard to believe that this was the first movie adaptation of a John Grisham novel.