THE CLIENT

On paper, the story presented here might seem a bit thin but all those involved manage to make this an entertaining and involving film, even if I had the nagging feeling throughout that right from the get-go young Mark Sway would be far safer telling the authorities what he knows rather than keeping it a secret.

The emotional heart of the story is the spiky but ultimately moving relationship between Mark and his lawyer Reggie Love, and their parting at the end did have me tearing up a little.

The former is played remarkably well by Brad Renfrew.  Apparently his real life prior to this film was not that far removed from that of Mark. Sadly he died of an overdose at the age of 25.

Susan Sarandon is totally believable as Reggie, a woman trying to make her way in a man’s world whilst having to cope with the loss of custody of her children some time in the past.

Elsewhere both the villains and the representatives of the law are a bit cartoonish at times but Tommy Lee Jones as the publicity-hungry DA is watchable as always, especially since he’s clearly having fun.

I also enjoyed the rather sinister cop Sgt. Hardy who is nasty to Mark throughout for no good reason at all that I could work out.

So all in all this is one of the better Grisham adaptations, although of course some way short of ‘The Firm’, which remains the gold standard.

RATING: ✓✓ Catch It If You Can