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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.

I wanted to get a copy of the screenplay to compare the movie with the dialog and directions, but initially received the FIRST draft by David Rabe. I finally got the shooting script later. All I can say is that it ended with Mc Deere blowing away all the partners in a restaurant with an AK-47. It really made me appreciate the re-write by David Rayfiel and Robert Towne. I have watched this movie many times and enjoy the suspense, romance, and Grusin's solo piano score, which always blows me away. But the one thing that impressed me most with multiple viewing, is how Gene Hackman really makes the movie work. His portrayal of this corrupt, but incredably likeable character is the one thread that holds the movie together for me and goes down as one of his most memorable acting performances.

Tom Cruise, the All American kid from the trailer park who worked his way through Harvard Law School, just got the dream job with a prestigious white shoe law firm in Memphis, Tennessee. Sounds like he's on his way to the top with wife Jeanne Tripplehorn. But it turns out to be a nightmare.

This Firm's main client is a Chicago crime family and they launder the mob's money. Now the FBI in the persons of fatherly Steven Hill and hard-nosed Ed Harris are squeezing Cruise to infiltrate and get incriminating information. That would result in disbarment for violating lawyer/client privilege. And The Firm isn't a gang of boy scouts either. They're not above a little blackmail and entrapment and they've got a security man in Wilford Brimley who's real good at it.

How Tom Cruise gets out of this rock and a hard place situation is the plot of The Firm. Sydney Pollak gave him one stylish cast in support and everyone of them delivers. Even players like Gary Busey, Hal Holbrook, Gene Hackman, take essentially supporting roles because this film was a guaranteed blockbuster. All of John Grisham's novels have their own built in audience, The Firm is no exception. I do remember my mother was a devoted reader of his work, whereas I always await the film version.

Holly Hunter got an Oscar nomination for her small role as private detective Gary Busey's secretary and girl Friday. When Hunter witnesses Busey's murder without the hit men knowing it, she sets the wheels in motion for the downfall of the bad guys. Hunter got nominated for Best Actress for The Piano and Best Supporting Actress for The Firm, a most unusual occurrence. She won for The Piano in 1993, but lost the Supporting Actress Award to her co-star in The Piano, Anna Paquin. Winning both would have just been a bit too much for the Academy voters.

The Firm has a far fetched plot to be sure in the way that Tom Cruise brings them all down. Still that's the charm of it. It's almost Hitchcockian in its pace and mood, and even more resembles the Mission Impossible television series in the way it's all brought off. Small wonder that Tom Cruise was chosen to star in the big screen adaptations of that television classic.

When I watch The Firm, I'm reminded of that line from another television classic that one Hannibal Smith used to say about he loved it when a plan comes together. That's what you will like about The Firm.

This is a long (154 minutes) but pretty solid drama-suspense story about corporate corruption. The film features a well-known cast, and as soon as the action kicks in this becomes a very tense story.

Tom Cruise is very good as the hotshot lawyer, as is Jeanne Tripplehorn who plays his unhappy wife. This is a complex story at times, one not always easily understood, especially the ending. So much is explained so fast at the end it's tough to comprehend it all.

Wilfred Brimley, Gene Hackman, Hal Holbrook, Holly Hunter, Robert Strathairn and Ed Harris all make this a really deep, impressive cast. For more details of the story, check some of the other reviews.

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.