The Firm

I really enjoyed the show - great characters, interesting episodic client stories, fairly clichéd at times but cancelled before the overarching plot is resolved at the end. That is not a spoiler, just a warning not to invest 22 hours of your life if you're not okay with that.

I don't remember much about the film "The Firm," and I didn't read the book. This TV series takes up where the film and book left off, with Mitch McDeere (Josh Lucas) deciding to opt out of witness protection after the mobster who wanted him dead dies himself. He and his family, Abby (Molly Parker), their daughter Claire (Natasha Calis), his brother Ray (Callum Keith Rennie), a detective, and Ray's girlfriend Tammy (Juliette Lewis) come home. Mitch opens a private practice, but soon joins forces with a large law firm when he gets a case that could turn into a class action suit.

There's lots going on in this show -- it's told in flashback, and we're shown some very intriguing flash forwards that the story is leading up to. One of Mitch's assigned cases is of a young woman accused of killing a wealthy old lady she had just met; the large firm has some sort of interest in this case, but as yet, we don't know why. And while the mobster is dead, his son has just taken over. Will he want a contract put out on Mitch and his family? We don't know at the time of this writing. And other cases come and go. Plus stuff happening on the family front.

Josh Lucas is very strong as Mitch, and I absolutely love Molly Parker as his wife - a wonderful, graceful presence. Juliette Lewis, as Ray's sexy girlfriend who doesn't look much like a receptionist, is great, as is Rennie as Ray.

I keep reading this show is going to be canceled. Gee, I hope we get to see the whole season.

Contrary to the many reviews on here, I thought this was a terrific thriller. Good story, good acting, and characters that you could connect with. The only thing I have a grievance about is that they left us hanging without a second series.

I highly recommend this series.

Yes, cable TV has raised the bar for dramas so high no network show can come close. The Blacklist is good, but falls short. This show is as good and possibly better. If you've watched Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Six Feet Under, The Wire, well the character development and writing is clearly for network TV. This isn't the fault of the actors. Juliette Lewis was a stretch for me playing the same role she always does, but hey, so does De Niro right?

I really liked the show and Josh Lucas is money...excellent lead. He carries the show well. Where this show blew it is character development. The wife as a school teacher who seems always free to get involved in the cases. Really? They did not need this angle. The daughter is an excellent actress. Believable from scene one. This show could have been really good, but network TV wants to fail. This is classic pride before the fall. They will not give up their power and control to make a really good TV show and settle for mediocrity. This ain't 1985 anymore. They cannot get away with the A-Team type shows...we have reality TV for that now!

I hate it when a series doesn't bother to tie up loose ends. They built up all this mystery around the last case, then don't bother to finish it! Otherwise, the series is mostly very edge-of-your-seat entertaining, with interesting characters.