The Firm (1993)

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, & Gene Hackman

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I am a huge John Grisham fan, but I never cared much for The Firm. I finally decided to watch it as part of a paper for my film class, because as the first adaptation of a Grisham novel, it was important to the paper, but I still can't explain why it was the first novel they decided to turn into a movie. The story follows a younger lawyer who is graduating at the top of his Harvard Law class. As the offers pour in, he has a tough decision to make, and finally settles on a small Nashville firm, that has made him an offer that is too good to be true. As he starts working for The Firm, Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) comes to realize that their only client is an organized crime syndicate and he's trapped inside. Eventually, the FBI comes to McDeere and tries to recruit him as a whistle blower, and his response is somewhat unorthodox. What I never understood about this story is why McDeere went to the lengths he did. He could have achieved the same outcome by simply complying with one side or the other. He jumps through all these hoops and does all these secretive things in order to achieve the same outcome. To me, this always made the second half of the book and film to be pretty much pointless. Tom Cruise stars and shines in the type of role that defined his early career. At this point in his career, if Tom Cruise is not starring as a dark loner or a sci-fi action hero, there isn't any point to watching his movies, but back in the early 90s he really had that special spark that has garnered him the reputation he has today. Cruise was paired with Gene Hackman, making the perfect dynamic of the old star, turning things over to the new. It was a bold move that didn't work out so well for the Indiana Jones franchise, but here it was one of the most interesting things about this film. The acting is terrific and a Grisham film is always very clever and well written, but as I said I've never been a fan of The Firm. The second half of the story just doesn't sit right with me and I'll continue to say it no matter how good the cast is.