The Firm
It’s easy to look at a given person or a group of people who are the most incredibly successful at their chosen profession and think that there has to be something that’s just not right in what they’re doing that somehow led to their great success. Much of this can be amplified even more when that particular field turns out to be that of the law. Lawyers can certainly be thought of as being scary people, well dressed types in suits and ties who might know their way around a courtroom but remain shockingly ambivalent and callous even when it comes to their own clients whom they’re supposed to be helping unless of course that check for their services manages to clear. This self serving nature by definition has been the stuff of cinematic storylines for decades and never better embodied than in 1997’s The Devil’s Advocate where the head of that film’s ultra powerful law firm turned out to be none other than The Devil himself. But in terms of a more realistic depiction of the utter corruption within the legal ranks, one should look to this 1992 release, the first of many film adaptations of the work of John Grisham, an ex lawyer whose books would soon become a mini cottage industry when it came to legal themed dramas and mysteries. It managed to snag a major director in Oscar winner Sydney Pollack and boasted an all star A list cast that was as impressive in its depth and scope as it was in the way it continuously pulls out big names almost all the way to the end. At the top of the poster we get Tom Cruise, still riding through his high minded idealist phase of his career and also seemingly on a sort of legal kick as well having just played another lawyer in A Few Good Men. Cast as Mitch McDeere, the movie opens with a dizzying fast pace showing his young man about to graduate Harvard Law School at the top of his class going through manic bouts of both working in a diner along with fielding offers and interviews from several of the top law firms in the country, groups whom we hear reading out their credentials and connections all while telling Cruise that they would love for him to join them. Eventually, he gets to The Firm of the film’s title, a seemingly well dressed dipshit outfit from Memphis of all places led by Hal Holbrook at supposedly his most congenial. For all of their lack of making much of an impression (at least on the viewer), it turns out that their offer in the envelope is much higher than what anyone else is putting out there to Cruise (with one partner even sheepishly admitting that he bribed a clerk to tell him what the previous highest bid was and then adding on to it generously, a clear foreshadowing of their unscrupulous nature) and they’re also willing to set him up with a house and a car on top of that which seems to be the answer to all of the young man’s hopes and dreams since we’re told that he grew up in a trailer park. Cruise excitedly runs home and gushes about the opportunity to his beautiful wife (Jeanne Tripplehorn, still riding the wave of stardom which she had attained in Basic Instinct) but she turns out to be less than impressed because (unlike her husband) she had grown up around money her entire life and had actually developed a bit of a disdain for it, but she goes along anyway since it’s a good way to help prepare for having a family. Once they get down to Memphis, they get to meet most of the crew including a pale looking, gangly colleague (Terry Kinney) who seems to have the word “guilty” painted on his face and Cruise’s so called “designated mentor” (Gene Hackman, still riding high after his recent Oscar win for Unforgiven). It’s another one of Hackman’s classic sneering villains here, although he’s more of a semi villain really (Holbrook is ostensibly the main bad guy here especially in the way that his eyes light up when talking about doing dirty business) with the script giving Hackman just enough depth here so that even though he’s in on everything, he still harbors a healthy sense of self loathing. So, what does this firm do? Well, it turns out that they take part in all sorts of dealings with The Mob and other facets of organized crime, having full access and knowledge of all of their business activities including that of the illegal kind and even helping to facilitate it as well (probably why their offer to Cruise was so generous). They also kill people too, namely their own lawyers who are suspected of possibly turning evidence over to the Federal Government with the help of a freaky looking blonde haired assassin (Tobin “Jigsaw” Bell) and their awfully corrupt “Head Of Security” played awesomely by Wilford Brimley who despite being a cold blooded, evil son of a bitch, still talks and acts just like the lovable “America’s Grandpa” type characters that Brimley had cultivated in the 1980s while doing movies like Cocoon with the showstopping bit coming when Brimley drives Cruise out to the middle of nowhere where he directly threatens and blackmails him in his usual friendly manner with that being the film’s highlight and ensuring that nobody else steals the movie. It isn’t long before Tripplehorn is told some very weird cult like stuff like about how “The Firm prefers that their lawyers have families because families promote stability” that she starts to realize that they have some very twisted thought processes along with constant surveillance on their homes which is monitored by Brimley. In time, Cruise is approached by an asshole, abrasive FBI agent (Ed Harris) who tells him plain and simple that not only is The Firm dirty, but in two years after he’s more settled in, they’re going to tell him everything about their illegal activity after making sure that he’s way too embedded with them to do anything about it. Cruise hires a private detective (Gary Busey) to look into it, but Busey is killed shortly thereafter which leaves his secretary (and lover) played by Holly Hunter (inexplicably nominated for an Oscar here for what was a grand total of six minutes of screen time) to become Cruise’s partner in crime in bringing these bastards down. Now since what Harris wants from Cruise would ultimately result in him being disbarred from practicing law for life and then being tucked away in a witness relocation program, he decides to think on his feet instead, promising Harris all the evidence that he can carry while working out a deal to get his convict brother (David Straithairn) released from prison. Then he decides to do what all good and righteous lawyers would do in this situation and that is to solely target The Firm itself for their own illegal and unethical tactics, namely overbilling almost all of their clients voraciously, acts which can be construed as being mail fraud and racketeering, even going so far as to treat all of their screwed over clients (including the Mafia) as literal victims! What’s notable is in the way that Pollack as a director keeps the pace so brisk through all of this two and a half hour running time, just letting the stars carry the movie in particular with the way that Hackman is almost a lovable rogue, pretty much acting as Cruise’s advocate to the bosses in a misguided (but genuine) attempt to protect him while still putting the moves on Tripplehorn due to a long running male libido that he can’t ever seem to shake off, not to mention Hunter with her chain smoking and crazy looking wigs who gets involved to avenge the Busey character whom she claims to have loved even while her own truck driving, Elvis impersonator husband is brought in to help out with the revenge plan! It’s funny how Holbrook’s head honcho never completely drops his kindly veneer to be shown giving orders to kill or anything else, but Brimley pretty much covers the nasty side of managing the dirty work required to keep such a law firm in business all while they do seem to regard the government itself as being a meddling entity which they treat with an “us against them” mentality. Not everything gets hit out of the park (Busey tries real hard to steal the movie but more or less muddles it instead; the numerous chase scenes are pretty standard and redundant) but as far as being a movie that states that usually the ones who offer you the most money are also probably the dirtiest as well (regardless of their credentials or lack thereof), this succeeds in being a top notch paranoid thriller which remains the first and best thing to ever come from the mind of John Grisham and helps to reinforce the old notion that everyone’s favorite lawyer jokes are more or less justified…
8/10