The Firm (1993)

Let’s Get Legal Movie #1 (Please click the links to read my reviews of The Verdict, Night Falls on Manhattan, From the Hip, Breaker Morant, The Caine Mutiny, A Few Good Men, and Presumed Innocent) 

Synopsis: Ambitious young law school grad joins mobbed-up firm that’s been killing off lawyers. Audience spends two-and-a-half hours wondering why that’s such a bad thing. 

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “Tom Cruise delivers the most electrifying performance of his career in this riveting film based on the international best-seller.” 

What Did I Learn?: The only skill that law firms look for in potential employees is the ability to guess the contents of a sealed envelope. 

You Might Like This Movie If: You figure it must be a two-and-a-half hour music video.[Warning: the embedded video is truly awful]

 

Really?: 1) So, Wilford Brimley – the dude from those old oat bran commercials – is the villain? Was Mr. Rogers unavailable? 2) Mitch McDeere? Avery Tolar? Lamar Quinn? F. Denton Voyles? Was John Grisham smoking something strange when he created these character names? 3) Funny how Mitch is kept very, very busy by Avery, and we never see him do a whole lot of studying, yet he somehow passes the bar exam with flying colours? Where did he find the time? 4) Wow...it’s tough to find competent assassins these days, isn’t it? 

Rating: The Firm is an enjoyable thriller that nevertheless suffers from a few problems. The film is far too long (see: "Synopsis"), its last 30-40 minutes are a convoluted mess that’s nearly impossible to follow, and Cruise has zero romantic chemistry with his co-star, Jeanne Tripplehorn (her scenes with Gene Hackman are much better, in spite of their creepy age difference). 6/10 stars. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106918/?ref_=rvi_tt