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The Pelican Brief

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The Pelican Brief (1993) 8/10
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Writing Credit: John Grisham
Cast: Julia Roberts,Denzel Washington

Wow. I thought this movie was intense. I can see how people disliked it for the reason that there is to much to follow. In that case though it is why I like it the most. The characters, plot, script all were clicking on the same pace. As real as it gets if something like this got out to the public about the United States government.

Here is a little description of this film. Julia Roberts plays Tulane University law student Darby Shaw. After the consecutive murders of two Supreme Court Justices, she becomes intrigued with the case and assembles a brief on her theory of who committed the murders. However, things start to get tricky when those who've read her brief turn up as corpses, which prompts her to enlist help from Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington). Their further gathering of evidence to prove her hypothesis only results in moving their names up on the hit-list.

If your young and hate murder/mysteries. This is not the type of movie for you. It's very complex and in many ways, as well as alot of things going on left right and center. You could get thrown off track in a split second. That is what I enjoyed about it to tell you the truth. One minute you think you know it, and the next minute everything is changing. Denzel and Julia are both tremedous actors, as they both prove it in this film. Support cast I thought was done good. The film is pretty much the same as Enemy of the State, instead of a as much action type base to it,and more political instead. I thought the script was done very well, the casting, the directing, the writer. What more can I ask for. It baffles me to see it did so poorly. This is my diamond in the ruff in unacheived films. 8/10 I will definitley be watching this movie again. You should take the chance and see it for yourself.

Comments pending.

Having watched The Pelican Brief last night, I thought I'd do m'first reviews on the two John Grisham based movies that I've seen (have there even been any more...?).

Firstly The Pelican Brief; Can't say that I'm a big fan... I started to read the novel a short while ago but got bored and gave up. I wasn't really any more impressed with the film either. I mean, it wasn't bad, but I wasn't gripped either (hence the rather middling 5/10).
I thought that Denzel was good, but his character could have been more involved. I'm not Julia Roberts' biggest fan in general either, but she wasn't bad in this.
The story was pretty good (well what do you expect from a Grisham novel), and it was quite cleverly done, but again, it wasn't anything special.

Drama / Grisham

.....

The Pelican Brief (1993): 7/10

THE PELICAN BRIEF
(ALAN J. PAKULA, 1993)
PG-13
2 HOURS 21 MINUTES

I'm beginning the rather lengthy task of entering into the database every film I have seen, at least those I have a decent memory of. Some may have the briefest of reviews while many will just have a number. Those films that I consider personal favorites and/or those that have some historical signficance I will add later when I have time for more lengthy reviews.

Palmetto, directed by Volker Schlondorff, is a failed piece of film noir starring Woody Harrelson, Elizabthe Shue and Gina Gershon. Avoid this movie.

Picture Perfect, directed by Glenn Gordon Caron, is a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston, Jay Mohr, Christian Slater and Olympia Dukakis. It plays mpre like a sitcom than a feature film, making for a rather forgettable film.

Pretty Woman, directed by Garry Marshall, is a blockbuster romantic comedy starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Gere stars as Edward Lewis, a wealthy corporate raider, and Roberts stars as Vivian Ward, a free spirited prostitute. Soon Gere makes Roberts his Cinderella.

Some people absolutely loathe this film while many consider it to be a classic of the romance genre. I think it's just an average movie. Obviously the plot is stretched (IRL a man like Lewis would not fall for Vivian) and the film does trivialize prostitution, but this isn't a "message" movie. Roberts and Gere have pretty good chemistry here, and it's certainly a watchable film, although it can't compete with Before Sunrise or When Harry Met Sally in the romance genre.

The Pelican Brief, directed by Alan J. Pakula, is a political thriller based on a John Grisham novel. The film fails due to over-plotting and self-importance. The film does have a stellar cast of Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, John Heard, Sam Shepard, Stanley Tucci and Robert Culp.