El Informe Pelícano

The foundation for this movie is the assassination of a couple of disparate Supreme Court justices. Their murders are on the minds of everyone in the country. A noted terrorist is involved in all of this and a character named Darby, played by Julia Roberts, sets out to find the evidence to discover the killer. That's all well and good. But what happens now is a series of murders and cover-ups and disappearances that make one need a scorecard to follow. I love more sophisticated drama and this is certainly one, but soon the President is involved. There is some land in Louisiana that is at the center of a lot of this, but because a rare breed of pelican is in danger, it becomes difficult. Even when the film is over, we don't really have it clear in our minds how things are going to play out. Some issues are settled but what's next. Roberts and Denzel Washington are quite good.

Take any John Grisham novel and have it brought to screen, written and directed by Alan J. Pakula (Sophie's Choice, All the President's Men. To Kill a Mockingbird), and add Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington as the leads, and you have a movie that is worthy of 141 minutes of your life.

I love political films. You know that if you have read my reviews. Political thrillers are especially great. This one is well worth watching for the story, the directing, and, most especially, for the lead actors. I do not think that Washington and Roberts have ever disappointed me - OK, there was that License to Kill in 1984.

I won't synopsize - you can get that anywhere - but, I will say that you will not be disappointed. It's not a popcorn movie, you have to put some effort into watching it, but the rewards are great. And the chemistry between Roberts and Washington is fantastic!

I enjoyed this film very much. It is well acted, and has plenty of star power, with great performances from Roberts and Washington. The story is compelling, and the cinematography lends itself to excellent suspense. However, many moviegoers (including myself) will find elements of the plot confusing and hard to follow. There are a great number of characters, and it is often difficult to tell who is who -- most of the "bad guys" dress alike and have similar hair, so distinguishing them becomes challenging. This may be a minor flaw in either casting or costume, making the characters somewhat undistinguishable. However, it also makes the plot quite intriguing, as the intelligent moviegoer becomes entangled at guessing just exactly who is associated with who, and so on. Still an excellent suspense movie -- if you like other Grisham movies (The Firm, the Rainmaker, etc.) you will like The Pelican Brief. But be warned: watch the film in an attentive state, and be prepared to think a lot. If you are a lazy, sit-back-and-relax type of viewer, this may not be the film for you.

Investigative thrillers are some of my favourite movies, whenever I want to really sink my teeth into something and get absorbed by it, they are my films of choice.

The film carries plenty of tension, urgency and mystery which are the elements you need in this kind of movie.

The acting is first class and the film will not leave you disappointed :)

Based on John Grisham's book of the same name, this movie is about the murder of 2 Supreme Court justices, and how a law student gets embroiled in the conspiracy. I would like to start by saying that this is one of the better John Grisham adaptations. Julia Roberts, who does most of the heavy lifting, and Denzel Washington both give terrific performances. The movie also succededs in successfully revealing things to audience before it is revealed to the characters in the movie. The only problem with this movie was it's length, although looking back, I am not sure if anything could've been cut. Also, the film is not as successful in creating tension in the chase sequences. But nitpicking aside, this is a very competent thriller and one that I can recommend to any thriller fan, and any John Grisham fan. P.s. - The only John Grisham adaptation better than this in my opinion is the Firm.