Plot: What’s it about?
Most any movie these days is based on a book, if not an outright adaption of one. The case isn’t at all different with this adaption of author John Grisham’s second novel, The Firm. Grisham, an ex-lawyer turned author had written his first novel a few years earlier entitled “A Time to Kill”. In “A Time to Kill” he focused on a young, idealistic lawyer (something that is concurrent in nearly all of his books) by the name of Jake Brigance. Jake was a struggling public defendant who took a nearly impossible murder case and by some odds won. A theme that is typical throughout of all of Grisham’s novels, and his first six have all been turned into feature films, very successful ones at that, and we’re awaiting “The Runaway Jury” sometime soon. Credit does have to go to this film, however, as a trailblazer for all his films to come. If this movie had bombed, I doubt less that successful adaptions like “The Chamber” and “The Rainmaker” would have ever seen the screen, just my opinion though. In the Summer of 1991, there was a book that no one could put down, every beach, poolside and library was into one thing…The Firm. It went on to spend a record number of weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list, and everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before it was made into a feature film.
The film is the natural progression of the book, but the question that everyone was asking was “who would play Mitch McDeere”? McDeere, the unquestionable hero of the book was described by Grisham as an something just short of Superman. Top five in his class (not top 5%, top five), never did drugs, played college football and now he was their choice for their new lawyer. The list was short, it was McDeere or none at all. So the questions aboud about who could play such a lead. The list of actors was probably as short as the list for the fictictious McDeere’s job. Short. It was about this time that Tom Cruise read the book while on the set of his current movie, “Far and Away”. Far and Away, the second collaboration between Cruise and wife Nicole Kidman. It didn’t fare too well at the box office. Anyhow, Cruise became obsessed with the character and wanted to play the role. He met with the director of the film, Sydney Pollack and had the part. When Tom Cruise wants a part, there’s not much that can hold him back. So it was done, the first of what was to become a series of John Grisham novels adapted for the screen, The Firm, was going to debut in the Summer of 1993.
The Summer of 1993 was also a very good Summer for movies, with “Jurassic Park” topping the money list, “Sleepless in Seattle”, “In the Line of Fire”, “The Fugitive” and “The Firm” all grossing well over $100 million dollars; competition wasn’t easy with Spielberg’s dinosaurs chomping at you and Harrison Ford running from Tommy Lee Jones! Now we come to the plot of The Firm (yes it took me two and a half paragraphs). Since it hit theaters on June 30, 1993, debate has risen as to the plot of The Firm. Thought to be an adaption of the best-selling book, audiences found that it did a 180 degree turn about halfway through it’s 155 minute running time. Of course, if you look closely in the opening credits (and I have, many times) a credit flashes up that says “Based on the novel by John Grisham”. That’s right, it’s not a direct to screen version of what happened in the book. And while later Grisham movies have steered a lot closer to the written word, this one didn’t; and coincidentally had very little impact on the overall effectiveness (or gross) of the film. Two main things were changed, Mitchs’ relationship with the Mafia, and his decision to tell or not to tell his wife of a certain fling that he had on a business trip in the Cayman Islands. Both are works of fiction, so I personally never saw the whole issue with the decision to change the ending. After all, the book’s ending was not the happiest anyway.
As we all know by now, Tom Cruise plays the title character by the name of Mitch McDeere. Mitch, a graduate of Western Kentucky University and Harvard Law school is being romanced by all the major law firms in the country. They want him and there’s very little to stop them. Firms from Los Angeles to Chicago to Memphis (yes, Memphis) all want him. He’s being offered salaries upwards of $75,000 for his first year, a handsome sum for a man right out of law school. All of this is shown to us in the first 5 minutes of the movie, in a collage of Dave Grusin’s jazzy score and shots of Boston to keep the eyes dazzled. Eventually, it’s a small 41 man firm in Memphis, Tennessee that gets Mitch. It’s Mitch they want, there’s no one else on their list. They want him. Bringing it home to his wife Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn), they celebrate, say their goodbyes to Boston and are off to start the rest of their lives in Memphis. Being ambitious should have been Mitch’s middle name, waking up at the crack of dawn to make it to the firm by 6 AM. All of his honors have still not garnered Mitch what will be his biggest asset, passing the bar exam. After three years of law school, Mitch was ready to take on the challenge and there were 40 other appointed lawyers who all threw him books 10 inches thick for him to “brush up” on. Mitch was a laywer at last.
Avery Tolar, played with perfection by the one and only Gene Hackman, shows up at Mitch’s desginated “mentor”. Avery, an unhappily married and unhappily divorced partner of the firm immediately likes Mitch and they are off to a two hour “working lunch” where Tolar quietly breaks the ethical rules as he’s explaining them to Mitch. All of these people are nowhere near Mitch and Abby’s age, so it’s then that fellow laywer Lamar Quin and wife Kay become good friends of the McDeere’s. Lamar, a vet of Bendini, Lambert and Locke (the firm that they all work at) is gunning for partner in a few years, and is used to the good life. Whether it’s hanging out on Beale Street or dinner, the McDeere’s and Quin’s hit it off very fast. Things are so good, it comes as a shock to the system to find out that two of the partners have been killed in a diving accident in the Cayman islands, home to a lot of the firm’s business. It’s then that we find out that something may or may not be just right with this perfect little life that Mitch and Abby have become so accustomed to.
Not long after the untimely deaths of the two partners, Mitch and Avery are off to the Cayman Islands to meet with one of their more cantankerous clients, Sonny Capps. Sonny, as described by Avery, makes millions of dollars a year and he’s unhappy when he pays less than 1% of it in taxes. With Mitch showing true colors as a lawyer, Tolar is impressed and Capps is satisfied. So, it comes as a suprise to Mitch when Capps mistakenly referrs to “our friends in Chicago” that leaves Mitch a bit rattled. Raising suspicion, Mitch discovers some hidden files by mistake and is starting to beleive that his dream job is now more of a nightmare. Mitch, being the clever lad he is, starts to enlist the help of his brother, Ray (David Stratiairn). Ray, in a prision nearby, and unloads all of his suspicions on him. Taking his brother’s advice, Mitch hires a private investigator by the name of Eddie Lomax (Gary Busey) to take a look into the matter…
It’s not long before Eddie turns up dead, and the FBI is starting to follow Mitch around town and ask him questions. Mitch, of course, unwilling to believe that any of this is actually happening turns away from them…at first. Blackmail is of very much use to the firm, and when Devasher (Wilford Brimley), the head of security for the firm suspects something, he drops yet another bomb on Mitch. The pictures say it all, the one night away from his wife in the Cayman islands, all of Mitch’s sins have been caught and captured on nice 8 X 10 black and whites. It’s this kind of behavior that keeps the partners and associates in line and lets them know who and what they’re dealing with. And it’s about this time in the movie that it really takes off. Also, it’s about this point in the movie where it starts to veer off from the novel.
Enlisting the help of Tammy Hemphill (Holly Hunter who was nominated for an Oscar in her performance here), the mistress of the decesed Eddie Lomax, they start to develop a plan to copy all of the files that could help them out of the bind that they’re in. Mitch has made a deal with the FBI to turn all of the evidence over to them so they can nail the law firm on their illegal money-laundering transactions for the Mafia in Chicago. Mitch, unknowingly entangled in this web, wants to make a deal so he can live his life away from the firm. And this is what his life has come down to. His wife has left him to spend time with her parents, his career (what’s left of it) is in danger, the Mafia is after him and if he cooperates with them, then the FBI will eventually get him and the rest of the firm. No one ever said that being a lawyer was easy!
Overall, “The Firm” is always in my top 3 favorite movies, it’s amazing that it has taken this long to make it to DVD, but at the very least it looks good and sounds good. I’m often amazed at how overlooked this film really is, especially since it has one of the better casts in recent years. While the ending was changed from the book, others have been changed as well. If you have the inclination, I recommend this film for all to see. Highly recommended!
Video: How does it look?
As with all other “new” Paramount titles, The Firm is presented in a brilliant 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. The colors are rich and vibrant and for a movie that’s almost 7 years old, it looks wonderful. It’s not a perfect transfer, however, there are a few scenes that show just the slightest bit of grain, but I’m sure that it’s from the source material rather than the transfer. Paramount has shown us that they can take older movies and turn in terrific transfers, as evidenced by Chinatown. One scene that stands out in my mind for both audio and video reasons, and has since I saw the movie, is when Mitch is walking over to Abby and starts telling her about the dark secrets of the firm. Pollack shot part of the scene in half speed, and it’s an effect that looks great on the DVD.
Overall, I’m more than pleased with the picture quality, and I even compared it to the VHS copy that I own and the old LaserDisc copy as well (yes…I really like this movie). Compared to the other two, the VHS not being widescreen, it’s hardly a comparison. The Laserdisc seemed very muddled and almost “blurry” compared to the brand new transfer of the DVD. Folks, “The Firm” has never looked better!
Audio: How does it sound?
Again, Paramount is in the great habit of “remastering” most any title in their catalog to a brand new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and The Firm is again no exception. While The Firm is not exactly an “audio-driven” movie, it sounds very good, with a depth that I would have never thought possible. From the moment that the familar Paramount logo fades and Dave Grusin’s soundtrack kicks in the audio is radiating out of all channels. Grusin and Sydney have collaborated on many films and their long term partnership has actually worked to enhance the soundtrack of not only this movie, but many others as well. If you’re a fan of the bluesy, jazzy piano, then The Firm will not disappoint. Dialogue, as expected, is very clear with no distortion at all. There are a few ambiant surround effects in the form of some gunshots (you are dealing with the Mafia during some of this movie) that sound good as well. I was duly impressed by the audio, though it’s certainly not reference material.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Unfortunately, this is the drawback of The Firm. For true fans of the movie, and if you can’t tell by now…I am, there are only two theatrical trailers to keep you busy. Granted, it’s more than what was on the LaserDisc or VHS copy, but I had heard at one time that there might be a commentary track with Sydney Pollack. And why not? Pollack, over the last year, has laid down commentary tracks for “Out of Africa” and “The Way We Were”, so why not here as well? Paramount has shown us that they can do a pretty decent Special Edition when they want to, as evidenced with “The General’s Daughter”, “Sleepy Hollow” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, so if they wanted to, I’m sure that they could have dug up some behind the scenes featurettes or something. Hey, how about an isolated score? Anyway, as impressed and happy I am to finally see “The Firm” on DVD, I’m disappointed in the number of supplements that are on the disc. But then again, everyone has a favorite movie, and sometimes it’s just luck of the draw as to supplemental features or not…
