Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, suspenseful, yet not "amazing."
Review: "The Pelican Brief" is a good story about an ambitious young law student (played by Julia Roberts) who, after the assassinations of two Supreme Court Justices, accidentally stumbles upon a high-reaching conspiracy. Curiosity spurs her to investigate, and she writes a brief upon her findings, unaware that doing so will endanger her life, as well as anyone else's life who reads it. Darby Shaw (Roberts) is a smart, savvy young woman who manages to evade attempts on her life by quick wits, a bit of luck, and a little help from a government agency now and then (whose motives are unknown for quite some time.) During her search for safety, she contacts a well-respected reporter (Denzel Washington,) who is known for his integrity. Together, they begin to unravel the mystery of the "Pelican" Brief, which puts both of their lives on the line as they try to stay one step ahead of assassins determined to stop the truth from getting out. Refreshingly, there is no love story between the two leads, although there is excellent chemistry and a strong bond between them; they do what they have to do, and mercifully escape the film without The Mandatory Love Scene. The story unfolds in a manner that holds the audience's attention, with only small bits coming out at a time; we don't find out what was in the "Pelican" Brief until well into the film, and even after we realize what's going on, the suspense continues unabated until the very end. The cast includes some heavy hitters, including Sam Shepard, Stanley Tucci, Tony Goldwyn, John Heard, John Lithgow, and Hume Cronyn (briefly,) all of whom do a good job. While the movie itself is entertaining and worth watching, the DVD is a pain in the patoot; midway through the film, it simply stops. No messages about flipping the DVD over, no nothing - it simply *stops*. Argh! You have to get up and flip the darning thing over (a true hassle for us lazy Americans, you know!) before being able to continue to movie - it really interrupts the experience in a jarring manner. There aren't any special features to speak of, either, unfortunately. Still, an entertaining experience, and I'll probably watch it again to see what I missed the first time.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre political thriller.
Review: "The Pelican Brief" was alright, but it was nowhere near as good as other political conspiracy films. The dialogue was 50/50: half of it was interesting; half just seemed like B.S. Grisham filler material. I might have liked the movie a little more if it wasn't for that god-awful, nails-on-chalkboard, dramatic music that pops up every ten minutes. Washington, Lithgow, and Roberts have all done films ten times better than this one, and it seems like they were harvested to salvage a crummy script based on an even crummier book. But that's just my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: Exciting legal thriller
Review: A bright law student scribbles a theory, called the "Pelican Brief", about the assassination of two Supreme Court Justices that hits a bit too close to home. Suddenly, everyone she speaks to ends up dead, while an arrangement of sketchy characters lurk around every corner. Darby Shaw, the young lawyer, tries to outwit everyone and eventually ties her fortunes together with Gray Grantham, a reporter with the Washington Herald. The movie is a fun legal thriller that will give your heart good exercise. 'Yikes' moments are in plentiful supply, and the colourful characters add a compelling element that keeps you interested and excited. The acting is well done. Denzel Washington (Gray Grantham) plays his role wonderfully while Julia Roberts (Darby Shaw) sparkles. They both play well off of each other, and there is a chemistry that reaches the audience. If you like John Grisham's novels, you should see the movies, including this one. Well adapted from the book, the plot line and characters follow the novel honestly, and nothing of lasting significance is taken away in the making of this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting legal thriller
Review: A bright law student scribbles a theory, called the "Pelican Brief", about the assassination of two Supreme Court Justices that hits a bit too close to home. Suddenly, everyone she speaks to ends up dead, while an arrangement of sketchy characters lurk around every corner. Darby Shaw, the young lawyer, tries to outwit everyone and eventually ties her fortunes together with Gray Grantham, a reporter with the Washington Herald. The movie is a fun legal thriller that will give your heart good exercise. 'Yikes' moments are in plentiful supply, and the colourful characters add a compelling element that keeps you interested and excited. The acting is well done. Denzel Washington (Gray Grantham) plays his role wonderfully while Julia Roberts (Darby Shaw) sparkles. They both play well off of each other, and there is a chemistry that reaches the audience. If you like John Grisham's novels, you should see the movies, including this one. Well adapted from the book, the plot line and characters follow the novel honestly, and nothing of lasting significance is taken away in the making of this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Could've been briefer.
Review: A case of Alan Pakula trying to relive the glory days of *All the President's Men*. Problem is, *The Pelican Brief* is based on a pot-boiler by John Grisham, who, if the movies based on his stuff is any guide, couldn't concoct a plausible plot to save his life. Therefore, the "Woodstein"-style paranoia gets diminished by our incredulity. It's amazing how much Pakula had forgotten since 1976: in *President's Men*, the eponymous "men" of the title seem the more menacing because we never actually meet them . . . here, the President Himself (poorly played by Robert Culp) is a major character. The script makes him out to be such a manipulated idiot that it's hard to believe he could've ever been elected, let alone be at the center of a Byzantine plot to rid the Supreme Court of a pair of Justices who are inconveniently environmentalist. But the real doozy is at the heart of the narrative: a pretty young thang (Julia Roberts) makes some wild speculations about who was REALLY responsible for the Supreme Court murders, PUTS IT TO PAPER in order to impress her professor/lover (a surprisingly good Sam Shepard), who passes it on to his old college buddy, who happens to work for the Effa-Bee-Eye. Somehow the Pretty Woman's essay circulates all through the FBI, and eventually shakes the foundations of power in the White House itself. Naturally, the President (well, his Machiavellian chief-of-staff) puts a contract out on Pretty Woman. She eludes them all -- The End. Puh-leeze. Well, at least the movie is expertly directed and handsomely photographed, proving that Pakula hadn't forgotten EVERYTHING, after all.
Rating:
Summary: Grisham's books make good flicks
Review: And this one is no exception. Roberts and Washington perform superbly in this film. There is tension, plot twists and curve balls. This is an enjoyable film. Washington and Roberts took some heat at that time for opting OUT of a romantic entanglement between their characters. At the time, they were accused of being racially motivated; they both maintained the story didn't need it. I have to agree. The story is very strong without any action between the sheets on their part. Additionally, Julia's character has just lost her lover, so I think it was a good decision. Judge for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Filing My Own Briefs
Review: Author John Grisham has certainly had many of his best selling novels, adapted for the big screen, over the years. While I have only read A Time To Kill and The Chamber, I have seen, with very few exceptions, many of the film versions. One of the best of these movies is The Pelican Brief. From its all star cast, its sure handed director, and its exciting story, the film has it all. The problems of the movie are minor. Law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) gets more than she bargains for, when she postulates her theory on the cause of the deaths of two Supreme Court Justices. It seems that her ideas hit too close to home and her name ends up on the conspirators' hit list. Shaw is forced to team up with reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington), who's also investigating the story, as well. Soon the pair find themselves dodging deadly assassins, trying to find the truth, and stay alive. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film is, at times very exciting. The pairing of Washington and Roberts elevates the movie past your average thriller. They are dynamic on screen and Pakula had enough sense to surround the two leads with a great supporting cast. Tony Goldwyn, Robert Culp, Sam Shepard, the late great Hume Cronyn, and Stanley Tucci, are all solid here. The film's story never rests, even during its more sedate moments. Roberts offers Darby as a strong, yet velnerable, person--this is one of her most underrated performances. The film is not problem free--a nit pick for me has to do with the way most of the politicians are portrayed it's rather stereo typical-for the story's sake. I also had a problem with the score from James Horner-too much like his work on Sneakers. The DVD loses points for its lack of any real extras on the disc. All you get are a few production notes--that's really it. What a shame. That said, The Pelican Brief is still a fun thriller, that's recommened
Rating:
Summary: The Pelican Brief - *** Stars
Review: Crime fiction sometimes achieves the status of serious literature: Raymond Chandler's private eye novels, for example. Elmore Leonard and Anne Rice are said to have the touch of the artist. Quite possibly true. John Grisham, current king of the best-seller lists, is also taken seriously in some quarters, but I'm not sure why. His plots are no better or worse than average, and his characters are at their service. His novels exist to be filmed. His next, for example, has been sold to the movies before being written. "The Pelican Brief" is the Christmas Grisham, halfway round the year from "The Firm," which was the Fourth of July Grisham. It is about as good, but in a different way. While "The Firm" was a muscular thriller with action sequences, "The Pelican Brief" takes place more quietly, in corners, shadows and secret hotel rooms. True, it has a few bomb explosions and chases, but by Grisham standards it's claustrophobic. It's an old law of the movies that ordinary novels are easier to film than great ones, because the director doesn't have to worry about the writer's message and style, if any. "The Pelican Brief" is a good illustration of that principle. By casting attractive stars in the leads, by finding the right visual look, by underlining the action with brooding, ominously sad music, a good director can create the illusion of meaning even when nothing's there. "The Pelican Brief" has been written for the screen and directed by Alan J. Pakula ("Sophie's Choice," "All the President's Men," "Presumed Innocent"), a skilled craftsman who has done about as much as possible with the material. Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington do the rest, simply by embodying virtue and being likable. The movie opens with the assassination of two Supreme Court justices. In New Orleans, a bright law student (Roberts) is intrigued because there seems to be no obvious motive; the justices are on opposite sides politically, so their deaths would cancel each other. Doing research, however, she discovers a connection, and writes a brief that, if true, would implicate one of the richest men in the country, and lead to the Oval Office. Roberts is encouraged in her work by her law professor and lover (Sam Shepard). The movie uses shorthand for its character traits; the Shepard character is a recovering alcoholic who drinks or doesn't drink entirely according to the needs of the dialogue. No matter; soon he's gone, and Roberts has been targeted by sinister forces. She turns for help first to the FBI, and then to an investigative journalist (Washington). The screenplay keeps its cards close to its chest. We see various scoundrels who seem guilty, but there's no proof until late in the film, and a lot of blind alleys. Some amusement is offered by the character of the President, played by smiling, bland Robert Culp as a man with the appearance of George Bush and the involvement of Ronald Reagan. There are some obvious villains, including the President's chief of staff (Tony Goldwyn), but the movie depends on ominous threats and sudden deaths rather than on colorful, memorable bad guys. Because the atmosphere is skillfully drawn, because the actors are well cast and because Pakula knows how to construct a sequence to make it work, the movie delivers while it's onscreen. That it contains no substance or meaning is not its problem. It is a clever device to take your mind off your problems for 141 minutes. I enjoyed it until it was over; I will have little reason to think about it in the weeks to come; I will forget it in a year. It is depressing to reflect that this shallow exercise in Washington conspiracy has been directed by the same man who made a great film, "All the President's Men," on the same subject. Depressing, too, to remember that both films center on the work of investigative newspapermen - Woodward and Bernstein, who were smart, aggressive and political in the earlier film, and Washington's character, who is smart, brave, shallow and utterly apolitical in this one. One thing the movie proves conclusively is the value of star power. Julia Roberts, returning after two years off the screen, makes a wonderful heroine - warm, courageous, very beautiful. Denzel Washington shows again how credible he seems on the screen; like Spencer Tracy, he can make you believe in almost any character. Together they have a real chemistry, so potent that after the movie was over, I heard people complaining that they were never "allowed" to have a love affair. Any romance would have been rather tactless, of course, considering that the story takes place in the week or two immediately after her lover has been blown to pieces. Maybe with a Grisham story you tend to forget details like that.
Rating:
Summary: A good one, and well-acted
Review: Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts are the leads in this dark suspenseful thriller. It's about a law student (Roberts) who discovers a conspiracy behind the murder of a couple of Supreme Court justices. Then, not surprisingly, when the bad guys realize what she knows, her own life is endangered. She turns to an investigative reporter for help, and together they go on the lam as fugitives. It's not great, great, great, but the chemistry between Washington and Roberts, the fear factor of being in hiding, and a great supporting cast will keep you too involved to risk leaving to go nuke another bag of popcorn without pushing the pause button.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Buy This One!
Review: Don't get me wrong it is a good movie worth watching. The problem is not with the movie it is the cheap studio that released it on DVD. It is a flipper! If you do not know what i flipper is, it is when the studio rather than using dual layers to fit the entire movie on one side of the disc choose to break the movie into two parts so that to finish watching the movie you have to get up from you comfortable spot on the couch to flip the disc over to finsh watching it. So unless you enjoy the little exercise you get from having to do this wait until the re-release it proper.
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