Product Details

• Actors: Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Gene Hackman, Hal Holbrook, Terry Kinney
• Directors: Sydney Pollack
• Writers: David Rabe, David Rayfiel, John Grisham, Robert Towne
• Producers: John Davis, Lindsay Doran, Michael Hausman
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: May 23, 2000
• Run Time: 154 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0792164962
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,527 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "The Firm" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This first film adaptation of a John Grisham novel is a crackerjack popcorn movie that satisfies even though it radically changes the last half of the book. The novel's dynamic setup is intact: Mitch McDeere, a hot law graduate (a well-suited Tom Cruise), finds a dream job in a luxurious Memphis law firm. His superiors (Gene Hackman, Hal Holbrook) provide Mitch and his young wife, Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn), with a house and plenty of money in exchange for lots of work, and maybe something more. Soon FBI agents (including a bald Ed Harris) encircle Mitch, telling him his firm has a sinister secret, forcing Mitch into a heck of a pickle. How Mitch deals with his situation is where the book and movie differ, yet by the time Mitch is running from bad guys with suitcase in hand, the movie delivers Grisham's goods. For Sydney Pollack's film, Mitch is more confrontational and heroic. Plot aside, the care Pollack put into this fair-weather thriller is unimpeachable, as is his cast. There's hardly a better all-star cast in any '90s thriller, from Hackman and Harris in key roles to actors in smaller parts, sometimes with only a scene or two. Standouts include David Strathairn as Mitch's wayward brother, Wilford Brimley as the head of security, film producer Jerry Weintraub as an angry client, Gary Busey as a private investigator, and Holly Hunter in a delicious, Oscar-nominated supporting role as Busey's most loyal of secretaries. The cast seems to have had as much fun making the film as we do watching it. It's slick Hollywood product, but first-rate all the way. --Doug Thomas

Product Description

Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, Holly Hunter. A Harvard law school grad happily signs on with a top Memphis law firm, never suspecting the sinister truth behind its gracious exterior. 1993/color/154 min/R/widescreen.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Entertaining--Great Acting May 10, 2002

By Craig Clarke VINE™ VOICE

Format:VHS Tape

Okay, so Tom Cruise gets a job at a Memphis law firm, right? We've all read the book or seen the movie, so how does one recommend this to one uninitiated?

Cruise puts in a solid performance, again playing his guy-who-doesn't-catch-on-for-a-while character he does so well. Sydney Pollack is a great mainstream director, and he pushes all the buttons, as well as giving us a great cast including Gene Hackman, Holly Hunter, Ed Harris, Jeanne Tripplehorn, David Straithairn, Gary Busey, Hal Holbrook, and Wilford Brimley.

Top-notch acting all around, with especially good turns by Brimley and Hunter, playing against type. Hackman is always good to watch and he does a terrific job of making Avery Tolar a likeable guy in spite of his faults. I suppose the most amazing job was done by David Straithairn, who, with less than ten minutes of screen time, paints an indelible portrait of Ray McDeere, Cruise's convict brother. He is the most likeable character in the film.

The plot is the standard rising-above-conflict stuff. Watch this movie (again) for the performances, or for the fine score from Dave Grusin and try to ignore the changes from the book (which I think were justified in making the ending more cinematic and Hollywood).

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than a book! February 16, 2006

By A. Chopra

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Nothing can be better than "The Firm" written by John Grisham, who himself is a lawyer. The attentions to details that Grisham manages to pull are just fantastic. I read the book before watching the movie, and hence can compare and tell that the movie has been directed perfectly and in fact a lot more interesting than the book, as the book gets slow in between, but not the movie.

Cruise's is superb, so are the other actors in this movie. I don't know why people have given negative reviews by comparing it with real life scenarios. This is a movie based on a fiction novel, and as rightly said by one of reviewer here;it does its job by entertaining the audiences.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent film December 28, 2006

By Mrs Plum

Format:DVD

One of the best things about The Firm, is that it doesn't insult the viewer's intelligence by labouring the point. The film and plot are developed through visuals as well as dialogue. From other reviews here, I gather that viewers used to having film plots spoon-fed to them may find this challenging or confusing, but I prefer it. If necessary, try watching the film twice. It is certainly good enough for a repeat viewing.

I'm not a Tom Cruise fan, nor a John Grisham reader, but this is the kind of role he is well suited to. The supporting cast is excellent, excellent, excellent. The film is well paced and the locations, cinematography and soundtrack all combine to create an enjoyable and suspenseful film.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Objection, Your Honor May 7, 2006

By Larry Scantlebury

Format:DVD

This is the first novel of John Grisham and like the movie, it's very strong in characters and dialogue. At the time he wrote it, there was some pretty good attempts at making good 'lawyer' movies. "Witness for the Prosecution" comes to mind. And we had uncovered a whole raft of great new mystery writers like Parker, Crais, Lehane, George, and Grafton. But the legal-mystery novel was uncharted land and Grisham plowed it over with a passion. How was Grisham to know that like the fall of communism had given "evil empire" writers like Len Deighton and John LeCarre fits, eventually the public would tire at lawyers, even laughing at them?

Nevertheless, it's a good book and also an excellent movie. If there are drawbacks, then truthfully there are some areas that require a little trust. The lawfirm itself for example. Sexual misconduct in a lawfirm? Sure. Misconduct in billing? Always. Stealing from the evidence locker of ill gotten gains? Occasionally. But murdering associates who try to leave? I don't think so. (But it does give Department of Justice cop Ed Harris a great line in the movie, "McDeere, no one has left your firm alive!")

The movie has a solid script and a great cast to carry it. The lovely Jeanne Tripplehorn, the this time not very grandfatherly Wilfred Brimley, Holly Hunter, always a hoot, Gary Busey, Hal Holbrook and Law and Order's Steven Hill, to mention a few. And Tom Cruise as always doing a powerful job who suddenly realizes that the pot of gold at the end of his and Abbey's rainbow has a HAZMAT sticker on it that he's overlooked. Cruise is just great. A true Hitchkockian character, the average man with no where to run.

What would you do if you found that the company you had waited for all your life was evil from top to bottom? That's The Firm.... 5 stars. Larry Scantlebury Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Firm - an offer you can't refuse. September 6, 2011

By M. Craig

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

When I saw this movie many years ago I fell in love with both the simplicity and the complexity of the plot. Based on John Grisham's bestseller and being a person who loves the 'twist' in a story, this was captured beautifully in "The Firm". Excellent acting overall with a number of famous faces including Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Gene Hackman to name a few. This has to be one of my favourite Cruise movies and is well worth purchasing if you haven't seen it before. The colour on the Blu-ray was superb with only a minor black blotching in one night scene - the rest was perfect. I would rate it 5/5 for picture clarity and 10/10 overall. Well worth buying.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars It gets a little messy towards the end, but it's still nothing short of exciting... September 22, 2008

By Andrew Ellington VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Legal thrillers rarely satisfy me. It takes a really strong one to peak my interest, hold it and keep me remembering it long after it's through. I guess I just never warmed up to them the way that a lot of movie goers have. That, coupled with the Tom Cruise bug, has kept me away from `The Firm' for some time. I adore Holly Hunter, and her Oscar nomination did make me curious, but as a whole I just wasn't that interested in giving this film a try.

It came on television the other day though, and I had nothing better to do, so I bit.

That said, `The Firm' was actually pretty well done. It was intense when it needed to be, and it contained enough plot twists to keep me interested even after I figured everything out. I will say that some of the plot developments felt a little sticky, especially once Abby and Tammy go all sorts of espionage on the firm, but that aside, the film is quite good.

The film follows Mitch McDeere, a bright lawyer who is being wooed by a prestigious law firm that seems to watch to control everyone around them. Mitch's wife Abby is turned off by this, but Mitch's enthusiasm for the firm and his potential working there outweighs her concerns. Mitch is taken under the wing of Avery Tolar, shown the ropes and given all the perks, and then there is a murder, and then the FBI comes looking for Mitch, to turn him, and he gets an earful, and he starts to dig around and soon all the pieces start to fit together and Mitch realizes that this prestigious firm has some very unorthodox practices that could threaten his marriage, his profession and ultimately his life.

I have never felt Tom Cruise was as talented as he is made out to be.... Yes, when he hits it he usually leaves a lasting impression (um, he was all kinds of stellar in `Eyes Wide Shut' and he was definitely Oscar worthy in `Jerry Maguire') but for the most part he is either outshone by the rest of the cast (as in `Rain Man') or simply not that impressive (I need to rewatch `Top Gun' but I do remember being less than impressed with Cruise). Here he is actually pretty good. He holds his own alongside Hackman (which is hard to do) and delivers a believable and relatable performance.

He's not best-in-show though.

`The Firm' is littered with actors doing their best to grab out attention. The most successful would have to be Holly Hunter who just breezes though her performance as if it were effortless for her. She is witty and charismatic and adorable to boot; and when she wants to lay on the drama she can and does so brilliantly. Gene Hackman is also on the top of his game; sly and cunning and very approachable which only adds layers to his characters mystery. Hal Holbrook is ruthless as Oliver Lambert and commands in his few scenes. David Strathairn is commanding if not a little out of place here (I really didn't like his characters arc, but whatever). Jeanne Tripplehorn gets better and better as the film progresses. I think that Ed Harris is a pretty good actor, but he seems wasted here in my opinion.

In the end I must say that `The Firm' is a far better film than I expected it to be. No, it is not a favorite of mine (based on genre alone really) but it manages to be memorable and exciting and I will watch it again, I'm sure of that. I wish that they had cleaned up the ending a tad, for as the plot keeps twisting the film gets a little messy, but that messiness makes for an entertaining roller coaster that serves it purpose. Read more ›