The Pelican Brief (1993)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1993
	Director: Alan J. Pakula (All the President's Men)
	Actors: Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman), Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli, Deja Vu), Sam Shepard
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 26.05.2020, VOD, 14" computer screen.
Synopsis: When law student Darby Shaw (Roberts) theorizes about the assassinations of two Supreme Court Justices, she is put in danger and turns to a reporter (Washington) for help.
Review: The four years between 1993 and 1996 delivered the four most-known adaptation to novels by John Grisham, very trendy at that time: The Firm, A Time to Kill, The Client and The Pelican Brief. No wonder that I was expecting more time spent in court in this movie and got none. I had forgotten many details of the 2h30 story but enjoyed very much watching it again. In particular, I had forgotten that it was a conspiracy movie going as high as the President himself. It is refreshing to watch a movie shot almost 40 years ago, once you pass the shock of seeing wired phones and people researching for hours for something we now find in two clicks. Indeed compared to more recent movies, this one takes its time to properly introduce the characters one at a time, and leaves its actors room to show their talent. Sometimes it feels like Julia Roberts is over-acting but in fact no, she just plays very well someone legitimately traumatized by the loss of a loved one. And the same goes for all the other actors, many of them A-list. The choice of the director, responsible for All the President's Men, is a bit obvious but I find pretty good more for his innate talent and long experience than for his previous success in that precise sub-genre. And such experience was needed to depict a pretty complex story. In a more recent movie you would have some simplifications and flashbacks to keep the modern distracted audience in the game. I am having a hard time finding reasons not to give this movie a higher rating; maybe it is sometimes too slow and theatrical (in the appearances of the hired killer). The fact that I like it very much after all those years speaks for itself. Easy to watch but not in a bad sense, this is probably one of my favorite movies from the 90's, a Cinema decade which excelled at Thrillers, if at nothing else.
Rating: 8 /10