The Firm *** (1993, Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, Jeanne Tripplehorn) – Classic Movie Review 1536

Director Sydney Pollack’s simmering 1993 legal thriller stars Tom Cruise as Mitch McDeere, a promising young Harvard Law attorney about to sit his Bar exam. He is approached by Alice Davison, Lambert & Locke (The Firm) and is seduced into joining the prestigious Memphis family lawyer firm, presided over by senior partner Oliver Lambert (Hal Holbrook). It turns out that the family firm that has made Mitch an offer he cannot refuse is involved in other family business – the Mafia’s – and the only way out is death.

Gene Hackman co-stars as the world-weary old-timer Avery Tolar, who is Mitch’s mentor at the Firm. He is supposed to brainwash Mitch, but he prefers to take a vacation with Mitch’s wife Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn). When two Associates are murdered, the FBI contact Mitch, asking him for information.

This promising thriller, based on an admired 1991 novel by John Grisham, turns out to be a plush but leaky vessel sailing on troubled waters. As usual, it starts with the script. And, despite work by a talented top team of writers, David Rabe, Robert Towne and David Rayfiel, the writing of the suspense and legal sequences and the dialogue is surprisingly shaky. Instead of paring down, they let a long, complicated novel run into a way over-long running time of 154 minutes. The screenplay follows the novel in most respects, but adds a significantly different ending.

However leaky, the vessel doesn’t sink, eventually it gets back to a safe harbour and all the reliable, experienced hands aboard are saved. Hackman manages to be magnetic and Holbrook, Ed Harris, David Strathairn, Wilford Brimley, Holly Hunter and Gary Busey all give engaging turns, albeit in brief roles. In fact you think they could have had more to do with a film this long.

Harris stars as Wayne Tarrance, the federal agent in charge of the investigation into the Firm, Mitch’s primary contact with the FBI. Strathairn is Ray McDeere, Mitch’s older brother who was in jail for manslaughter. Busey plays Eddie Lomax, a private investigator and Ray’s friend. Hunter plays Tammy Hemphill, Eddie’s chain-smoking secretary and lover who aids Mitch in copying and stealing files in Memphis and the Cayman Islands. Brimley plays Bill Devasher, head of security and hitman at the Firm.

Despite this vintage cast, The Firm is mainly a vehicle for an incredibly boyish looking 31-year-old Cruise, who leads with his winning smile and appealing good looks. But this time that’s not quite enough. He handles a lot of the movie well, and is excellent in his scenes with Hackman and Holbrook, where he raises his acting game to match the veteran stars’ performances.

However, unfortunately Cruise brings little conviction or chemistry to the central marital relationship between Mitch and his wife Abby. Tripplehorn seems uneasy, and, though a year younger than Cruise, actually looks too mature for him.

The Firm has more than its share of thriller clichés and muddled plotting, but it also has a lot of intriguing legal and Mafia conspiracy situations to offer, as well as a series of tense and exciting moments. And it helps a lot that Pollack’s direction is smooth and polished. But it’s the fine character performances that are the making of the film.

Holly Hunter and the music were Oscar nominated, with Best Supporting Actress for Hunter (losing to Anna Paquin for The Piano) and Best Original Score for Dave Grusin (losing to John Williams for Schindler’s List).

With Grisham was at the height of his popularity, the movie was huge hit. Costing $42million, it took $270million at the box office. Grisham opined: ‘I thought Tom Cruise did a good job. He played the innocent young associate very well.’

Because Cruise insisted on sole star-billing under his deal with Paramount, Hackman’s name doesn’t appear above the credits or on the release poster. When Hackman asked for his name to appear above the title, it was refused and he asked for his name to be removed, and it was, though it appears in the end credits.

Wilford Brimley celebrated his 80th birthday on September 27 2014.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1536

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Director Sydney Pollack.