Movie Monday: The Firm

Movie Monday: The Firm

 

It’s rare that one watches a legal thriller film that manages to present a complex story in a simplistic manner, while also juggling the intricacies of legality within the plot of the work. It’s also a feat just to make such a story entertaining and digestible for the everyman audience. Sydney Pollack’s 1993 film The Firm manages to do this, presenting an interesting story about corruption that manages to stay captivating the whole way through. Based on the John Grisham novel of the same name, The Firm stars Tom Cruise as Harvard Law graduate Mitch McDeere, following his time at Bendini, Lambert & Locke, a law firm located in Memphis, Tennessee. Mitch and his wife Abby relocate, granted luxurious furnishings by the firm that help them lead a simple, happy life outside of Mitch’s work. Things take a turn, however, when Mitch discovers some previous members of the firm’s team had mysteriously died. His independent investigation leads him to discover corruptive forces at work in the firm, as he finds himself tied up with both an ongoing conspiracy and a fight for his life.

 

The film does a lot well when it comes to setting up the initial premise. The buildup is slow, but not so slow that the viewer is bored by what’s going on. A good amount of time in the first third of the movie is spent peeling back the layers of conspiracy and corruption within the firm, building up to a revelation that defines the last two-thirds of the story. It helps that character development is woven into even some of the seemingly off-handed scenes at the start of the film, helping to make character motivations and actions later on make sense. Mitch is displayed as an intelligent, studious family man with a deep respect for the law, one that is pushed and pulled at as the film plays out. His dedication to lawful practices and truth—in some cases even at the cost of everything he cares about—make him a noble protagonist who is easy to root for. While other characters don’t necessarily have the same amount of depth as Mitch, standout performances by Gene Hackman (playing Mitch’s mentor at the firm, Avery Tolar) and Holly Hunter (portraying secretary Tammy Hemphill) give their characters a strong presence whenever they’re onscreen.

 

The script itself also helped to make the film engaging, as everything was laid out in such a way that anyone could watch the film and understand what is going on. Legal jargon crops up, but it does so in such a way that someone without detailed knowledge of the law can still follow along with the film’s events. Without spoiling too much, the twists and turns that continually transpire as the film goes on will leave you on the edge of your seat despite the lack of typical “action” taking place. This is bolstered by a selective soundtrack crafted by Dave Grusin, one that often helps to highlight what the film is trying to make the audience feel. There is the occasional overuse of the same chords throughout the score, but it’s still presented in such a way that its repetition is barely noticeable. The cinematography also helps, as, while nothing too special, it does its job in presenting the film as Pollack intended. This is more noticeable in suspenseful scenes, as the camera is positioned and shots are edited in ways that make these scenes all the more intense. Every aspect of the film builds on top of itself in order to create an enjoyable, suspenseful experience for its viewers.

 

I would recommend The Firm if you’re looking for a slow-starting thriller that builds its mystery and suspense elements into an enjoyable film. With outstanding performances—most notably by Cruise, Hackman, and Hunter—a well-written and well-executed script, and a pervading theme about the importance of justice by lawful means, the film excels in creating a memorable story about corruption. It’s a story that may have been told a hundred different times in a thousand different ways, but the presentation in this film is what counts. It will hold your engagement for its entire two-and-a-half-hour runtime, and acts as a successful legal thriller that will stick with you even the day after watching.