THE FIRM

I was a bit shocked when this film ended up only third in the 'Screen Drafts John Grisham Super Draft', behind 'The Pelican Brief' and 'The Client'.  I was further taken aback to find out this film only gets 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.

I have always thought of this as an excellent adaptation of what is surely Grisham's best novel.

Rewatching it though I can see that those critics who complained about its length (two and a half hours!) and its slow pace might well have had a point.  And it's fair to say that the director Sydney Pollack might not be the best at handling the thriller elements, especially towards the end.

The basic setup is great: a bright law student Mitch (Tom Cruise, at 31 just about young enough to play the part) is tempted to join a small law firm in Memphis only to discover that they are connected to a Mafia mob in Chicago.  

Any lawyer trying to leave the firm is murdered, and just to make things worse the FBI are investigating and want Mitch to help them, a not very appealing prospect in terms of where it would leave him (disbarred and in a witness protection program).

Seeing how Mitch gets out of this fix is great fun. 

I'm not the world's greatest Tom Cruise fan, but fortunately there is a terrific supporting cast: David Strathairn as Mitch's brother Ray, Holly Hunter as Tammy who gets involved in helping Mitch, Ed Harris as the FBI agent pressurising Mitch, Jeanne Tripplehorn as Mitch's wife Abby. 

Best of all there is the great Gene Hackman as Avery, as a senior partner who takes Mitch under his wing (and who rather creepily is attracted to Abby). 

But each of these characters and their relationship to Mitch take up valuable screen-time, and perhaps something should be cut - but what?  Some directors might have cut some of the time spent early on showing the relationship between Mitch and Abby, and also that between Abby and Avery.  But that time pays off towards the end in terms of Avery’s fate.

I definitely think the final scenes could be sharpened up.  For example, a lot of time is spent on Mitch getting hold of some information in Avery's files and then breaking into Avery's computer. 

Notwithstanding these quibbles though, I enjoyed the ride, and would still rank this Grisham adaptation high.

RATING: ✓ If You've Nothing Better To Do