"So Let it Be Written... So Let it Be Done"

The life and times of a real, down to earth, nice guy. A relocated New Englander formerly living somewhere north of Boston, but now soaking up the bright sun of southwestern Florida (aka The Gulf Coast) for over nine years. Welcome to my blog world. Please leave it as clean as it was before you came. Thanks for visiting, BTW please leave a relevant comment so I know you were here. No blog spam, please. (c) MMV-MMXIX Court Jester Productions & Bamford Communications

Saturday, August 19, 2006

SNMR 1.28: "The Firm"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "The Firm" (1993, R, 154 minutes), starring Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Holly Hunter, Hal Holbrook, David Straithairn and Wilford Brimley. The film was directed by Sydney Pollack.

I think that the first time I saw this film was after it came out on video and it quickly became one of my favorite movies. Tom Cruise may be a bit creepy and outspoken in his religious beliefs these days but you can't deny that he is an excellent actor.

From the DVD's dust jacket:

Three time Oscar nominee Tom Cruise delivers the most electrifying performance of his career in this riveting film based on the international best-seller.
Cruise plays Mitch McDeere, a brilliant and ambitious Harvard Law grad. Driven by a fierce desire to bury his working-class past, Mitch joins a small, prosperous Memphis firm that affords Mitch and his wife (Jeanne Tripplehorn) an affluent lifestyle beyond their wildest dreams. When FBI agents confront him with evidence of corruption and murder within the firm, Mitch sets out to find the truth in a deadly crossfire between the FBI, the Mob, and a force that will stop at nothing to protect its interests - THE FIRM.
Directed by Oscar winning Sydney Pollack and starring Oscar winner Gene Hackman plus a magnificent supporting cast, THE FIRM makes its case as the must see movie of the year.

From Martin & Porter's DVD and Video Guide 2006, p. 389:
Director Sydney Pollack takes the old-style Hollywood approach in this adaption of John Grisham's bestselling suspense-thriller by surrounding star Tom Cruise with a top flight cast of suppporting actors- and it works. Cruise plays an ambitious young lawyer who joins a law firm in Memphis only to find that his high salary and impressive perks come with a price: either go along with the company's corrupt dealings or become its next victim. Gripping.


This is an excellent film from beginning to end. I recall reading the novel but don't think that the screenplay strayed far from the book, if at all. The supporting cast is wonderful and I especially like Wilford Brimley's charachter - atypical for his usual good guy roles in all of his work that I've seen. Ed Harris makes a great FBI guy. Gene Hackman is one of the most versatile actors of the last 30 years or so. I'd recommend this film to anyone. It is lengthy though and I think the first hour drags a bit but not so much as to ruin the story. I like the piano music soundtrack, which is raw but it works well. I'll give this film four and a half out of five stars.

3 Comments:

At 20 August, 2006 15:13, Blogger Kayla said...

Excellent movie!
I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan, but he did a good job in this one

 
At 20 August, 2006 19:25, Blogger Tim said...

ryan: I take it then, that you are a lawyer in real life...

kayla: Surprisingly, TC is in several of my favorite films - another of which I'll review in September.

 
At 21 August, 2006 05:42, Blogger DaBich said...

Tom Cruise is one of the best actors today. I loved this movie. The book was great too :)

 

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