The Pelican Brief

Rating:
Summary: Watch It Once
Review: To give a movie a five-star rating, for me it has to be one that I would want to watch several times. This one does not fit that bill (hence the four-star rating). However, I do recommend seeing it because it is a very good one-viewing movie. Julia Roberts does a good job (although I do not like when she becomes like Meryl Streep). Denzel Washington does a superb job as a top-notch reporter (think "Deep Throat" from Watergate). The unseen villain is the kind of fear that many scary movies fail to deliver -- this one provides the suspense without giving in to flashy gimmicks.

Rating:
Summary: Not Everything, but Not a Nothing.
Review: To sum this up quickly this is a highly engaging political drama not a romance or action.
It has a relatively good plot: A few quite good twists and a few predictable ones. It maybe a thriller in places, but it's not really an action. My last complaint I have about the movie is Julia Roberts is an actress I have come to know as a romance actress, but this movie really didn't have any romance. Although Julia and Denzel Washington still did turn out an excellent performance. It's not a movie with everything, but the stuff it has is done very well.

Rating:
Summary: Confusing Movie
Review: Very confusing movie!! I have to watch it over and over to get what is happening!!

Rating:
Summary: ERIN BROCKOVICH MEETS JOHN Q
Review: Without the star presenced of Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, THE PELICAN BRIEF might not succeed. But these two megastars in their earlier days bring their own charisma to this Alan J. Pakula directed version of John Besteller Grisham's novel. A labyrinthine plot that sometimes seems convoluted and implausible takes the backseat to the reactions of its characters and the all too suspicious government.
Pakula, best known for ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and KLUTE, sets up our heroes in a conspiracy involving the assassination of two elderly supreme court justices. Roberts is a brilliant law student who comes up with titular brief, and then has to turn to reporter Washington to help expose the high ranking parties responsible. It's all shameless manipulative plotting, but the leads do well and we find ourselves rooting for them. The supporting cast has its ups and downs--the ups: the ever dependable Tony Goldwyn (Joshua, Ghost) as the presidential press secretary; John Lithgow as Washington's irascible boss; Stanley Tucci as the chameleonic assassin; and John Heard as a friend of Washington's who gets snuffed. The downs: Robert Culp as a mentally challenged president, and William Atherton in a wasted role as an FBI agent.
I haven't read the book, but the movie succeeds as a paen to the talents of its leads.