The Pelican Brief

I enjoy those movies much more today because they focus on story and acting and not on CGI and SFX.
Yes, the conspiracy at the base of this movie feels rather small considering what is happening in the world now. But keep in mind when this was written.
Althought I must admit I was thinking about a certain President a lot while watching this now.

For the longest time as a kid, I couldn't figure out why this movie reminded me of Sneakers so much. Other than the obvious conspiratorial themes and threats of death to the protagonists, there wasn't anything else I could nail down about similarities between the two movies.

I rewatched Sneakers a few days ago before this, and suddenly the reason why became so much more obvious: James Horner composed both scores, and even reused some of the motifs from the Sneakers soundtrack for this. *Duh!*

I totally forgot about being confused by the Sneakers connection until reading an old comment of mine on the internet about that confusion I had the last time I watched this in 2018. Dunno why I didn't bother looking beyond the cast for a more obvious connection that would've clicked the second I read James Horner's name.

The film is very much like many of Grisham's novels - intriguing setup, fun. yet forgettable middle act involving political/legal matters and a race to find the truth leading to a disappointing climax which usually just ends and rarely justifies the patient buildup and intrigue that had gone before. Pakula has done this before - indeed there are elements here that are very similar to the far better All the President's Men. It is still eminently watchable, especially once the film brings the two leads together to investigate, but with factual conspiracies far more shocking these days than what is shown here, the fiction is a little underwhelming in the end.

>"Everyone I have told about the brief is dead."

Grisham movies used to be an event. Denzel and Julia together on the screen during the rise of their fame? Sign me up. What surprises me more is Tucci as a bad guy! That being said, they could've sped a few things up as it feels a little long in the third act.

Normally I would say this is a forgettable legal thriller but I have watched this numerous times over the years and, for reasons unknown to me, I keep coming back. Perhaps, like Vampire Diaries, it's just something I like despite it's flaws. Don't get me wrong, it's not as bad as Vampire Diaries. But it's also not very good either.

My core criticism is that it's simply unbelievable. As you can see from the synopsis, multiple people are hunting down a law student for figuring out the perpetrators behind two assassinations of Supreme Court justices. First, the idea that [spoiler]an oil baron would murder two Supreme Court justices for a _potential_ future case[/spoiler] is questionable enough. However, [spoiler]everyone trying to gun down this law student in broad daylight, setting off car bombs, and _murdering FBI agents_[/spoiler] is just too much. Funnily enough in light of recent political events, the idea of [spoiler]a single news story bringing down a president with indictments following the next day might be even more outlandish.[/spoiler] Then again, this was the 90's. Maybe that's way I like it, because it feels so very 90's and I remember watching it as a kid.

Roberts and Washington give fine performances, the action is mediocre, and the soundtrack sounds like a ripoff of Apollo 13. Nevertheless, I have a soft spot for this one and will likely return to it again in the future. If you like other Grisham adaptations, then you might as well give this one a shot. If not, then maybe don't bother.

**Laughably bad with an awful score, ludicrous hit men, and a storyline that is the epitome of contrived.**

Humm I'm not saying that this movie is bad or good but decent