Plot
A law student uncovers a conspiracy, putting herself and others in danger.

Release Year: 1993

Rating: 6.4/10 (31,946 voted)

Critic's Score: 50/100

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Stars: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard

Storyline
Two Supreme Court Justices have been killed. Now a college professor, who clerked for one of the two men, who's also having an affair with one of his students, is given a brief by her, that states who probably, wanted to see these two men dead. He then gives it to one of his friends, who works for the FBI. When the FBI director reads it, he is fascinated by it. One of the president's men who read it, is afraid that if it ever got out, the president could be smeared. So, he advises the president to tell the director to drop it, which he does. But later the professor and the girl were out and he was drunk and when he refused to give her the keys she stepped out of the car. When he started it, it blew up. She then discovers that her place has been burglarized and what was taken were her computer and her disks. Obviously, her brief has someone agitated. She then turns to her boyfriend's friend at the FBI...

Writers: John Grisham, Alan J. Pakula

Cast:
Julia Roberts - Darby Shaw
Denzel Washington - Gray Grantham
Sam Shepard - Thomas Callahan
John Heard - Gavin Vereek
Tony Goldwyn - Fletcher Coal
James Sikking - FBI Director Denton Voyles (as James B. Sikking)
William Atherton - Bob Gminski
Robert Culp - President
Stanley Tucci - Khamel
Hume Cronyn - Justice Rosenberg
John Lithgow - Smith Keen
Anthony Heald - Marty Velmano
Nicholas Woodeson - Stump
Stanley Anderson - Edwin Sneller
John Finn - Matthew Barr

Taglines: Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead.

Release Date: 17 December 1993

Filming Locations: Tulane University - 6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Opening Weekend: $16,600,000 (USA)

Gross: $195,000,000 (Worldwide)

Runtime: 141 min

Trivia:
Although the Tulane Law School has moved to a new building since this film was released, the room where Julia Roberts and Sam Shepard meet for class early in the move is still a classroom: Jones Hall Rm. 102.

Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: As the camera panes over the dead body of Chief Justice Rosenberg, he is still breathing.

Quotes:
[first lines]
Justice Rosenberg: Any of those signs got my name on 'em?
Gray Grantham: Quite a few.
Justice Rosenberg: What do they say?
Gray Grantham: The usual: Death to Rosenberg, Retire Rosenberg, Cut off the oxygen.
Justice Rosenberg: [laughs] That's my favorite. Of course you, Mr Grantham, did pretty good by me your last time out: Rosenberg equals the government over business, the individual over government, the environment over everything. And the Indians? Oh, give 'em whatever they want.
Gray Grantham: Well with all due respects sir, that wasn't my line, that was a quote.
Justice Rosenberg: From one of your unnamed senior White House officials; senior White House son of a bitch I should have said, who got in there by stirring up these people, one against the other. It never fails to amaze me what a man will do to get into the Oval Office.

Good Suspense -- For the Intelligent Movie-Goer

Rating: 8/10

I enjoyed this film very much. It is well acted, and has plenty of star power, with great performances from Roberts and Washington. The story is compelling, and the cinematography lends itself to excellent suspense. However, many moviegoers (including myself) will find elements of the plot confusing and hard to follow. There are a great number of characters, and it is often difficult to tell who is who -- most of the "bad guys" dress alike and have similar hair, so distinguishing them becomes challenging. This may be a minor flaw in either casting or costume, making the characters somewhat undistinguishable. However, it also makes the plot quite intriguing, as the intelligent moviegoer becomes entangled at guessing just exactly who is associated with who, and so on. Still an excellent suspense movie -- if you like other Grisham movies (The Firm, the Rainmaker, etc.) you will like The Pelican Brief. But be warned: watch the film in an attentive state, and be prepared to think a lot. If you are a lazy, sit-back-and-relax type of viewer, this may not be the film for you.

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