The Firm (1993) Directed by Sidney Pollack

"You want to know something funny? You actually made me think about the law. I managed to go through three years of law school without doing that." Mitch McDeere

I have a love hate relationship with Legal Dramas; I either love them, or I hate them.  There is very little middle ground.  This is a definite "Love" side movie.

The Plot is fairly simple.  Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) is a young lawyer given the nod by a prestigious Memphis Law Firm.  It is like moving to the South, and discovering where Santa Claus spends his summers; he is given a huge salary, a brand new Mercedes, a low interest mortgage on a house in a suitable (filthy rich) neighbor hood, even temporary furnishings until they can get around to the decorating.

But as they discover, to those to whom much is given, much is expected.  Abigail (Jeanne Triplehorn) is a teacher.  She discovers she has a second career; being the wife of a member of the Firm.  This is part cheerleader, part social secretary, part hostess, part sacrificial lamb.  The Firm makes it very clear that no member ever failed the bar; Mitch has to pass the first time out.  But the firm also believes in throwing him in the deep end; demanding his help on several projects; his bar exam is his problem.

But as time progresses and certain details don't add up, Mitch begins to realize that in the state of Denmark, there is a decided odor of decay...

One of the partners and his family were killed in a boating explosion of the Grand Cayman islands.  And his house is bugged.  And the Firm is involved in a complicated shell game that seems to be nothing more than adding layers upon layers of complexity hiding...what?  What ever it is it is enough for the FBI to blackmail Mitch to help them.  He knows they are far more interested in getting an indictment than in seeing him and Abby live through this.

As Mitch digs deeper, the threat level escalates, and the action builds to almost James Bond levels, with no hokey hidden spy gizmos; it is all very real, very dangerous, and very permanent.

Part of the success of this film is the solid use of typecasting.  Everyone here has played this character before.  Hal Holbrook is the Senior Partner.  This tells you Oliver Lambert is a respected member of society with dark secrets.  He has done this before, and done better than most.  Gene Hackman's character Avery Toler is a man with morals worn down by the waters he swims in.  No one can play that "might be redeemable" b*st*rd like he does.  Tom Cruise is of course an intrinsically good person, no matter what circumstances may do to him.  Gary Busey plays an insane loose cannon; name one person who can do that better?

A couple of surprising performances; Holly Hunter as Tammy Hemphill, Eddie Lomax's secretary, and Mitch's trailer park Dr. Watson.  She was nominated for one of the two Oscar nominations this film earned (the other was for music).  The other is Wilford Brimley as Head of Security William Devasher.  Brimley does not play the bad guy often, but when he does, it is memorable.

One other great thing about the movie, and Grisham's novels in general, while many legal dramas gloss over various legal details as unimportant, this movie thrives on them, finding ways to explain them to the audience without seeming to cut away for an exposition in Law 101.

Pollack takes his time with his movies.  Sometimes, this makes it seem slow.  But I have learned to trust him; they start slow, deliver important tidbits in subtle moments, and then, when the action starts, it tends to build steadily, and explode suddenly.

It is satisfying on many levels; intrigue, mystery, action, romance.  And you leave feeling you know more than when you started.  I love that in a movie.

This review, like Ed Harris' character, is Lean-N-Mean.  It weighs in at a concise 666 words.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age