THE PELICAN BRIEF is the second John Grisham novel to make the book-to-movie transition. Like its predecessor THE FIRM, it disappoints, which isn't such a big surprise considering the pedestrian story upon which it is based. Instead of wondering why Grisham's work doesn't translate well to the screen, maybe someone should take a step back and consider whether his page-turners are worth filming in the first place.
On one bloody May night, two Supreme Court Justices are assassinated (one of whom is played by Hume Cronyn). At Tulane University, law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) has a theory about who's responsible for the killings. Using the resources of the school library and several semi-public court case files, she develops what is later dubbed as "The Pelican Brief." Initially regarded as a wild theory, the short document comes under scrutiny when readers of Darby's work start getting murdered--beginning with her Constitutional Law professor, and lover, Thomas Callahan (Sam Shepard). As the nameless thugs close in, Darby turns to WASHINGTON POST writer Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington) for help. Naturally, this makes Grantham as much of a target as Darby, and the pair end up on the run.
In the book THE PELICAN BRIEF, the particulars are different from those of THE FIRM, but the basic premise is very similar. Grisham apparently has one basic story that he likes to dress in different clothes. That's all right, and it makes for quick, brainless reading, but neither of the movie versions has worked. Paradoxically, THE FIRM's biggest failing is in straying too far from the written version while THE PELICAN BRIEF's flaw is in remaining too faithful.
As scripted and directed by Alan J. Pakula, THE PELICAN BRIEF is a straightforward visual re-telling of Grisham's book. With few changes, it follows the basic storyline, and includes a number of complications and secondary characters which seem superfluous on screen. The final result is an unnecessarily-long thriller that contains far more talking than action. Pakula's direction is lackluster, showing little of the style that permeated his two most impressive pictures, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and PRESUMED INNOCENT.
Character depth and development are virtually nonexistent. Grisham's book isn't a tremendous achievement in this area, but at least we get some insight into what various people are thinking. With that element absent in the movie, no one attains more than a two-dimensional status, and much of the entertaining in-fighting and political wrangling is lost to the viewer. John Heard's Gavin Verheek is a perfect example. In the book, we get to know him. In the movie, he's in about five scenes before meeting his fate.
The supporting cast is impressive, with names like Robert Culp, John Heard, Sam Shepard, and John Lithgow all turning in solid performances. Likewise, Denzel Washington brings a calm self-possession, bordering on arrogance, to the role of Gray Grantham. This may be the only film character to approach the level of the book version, and much of it can be credited to Mr. Washington's work.
Julia Roberts' Darby Shaw, however, is an unmitigated disaster. Ms. Roberts simply doesn't have the range required for the role, as becomes painfully obvious when she's supposed to express terror at a car bombing. That particular scene, as well as several others requiring deep emotional responses, presents a fair approximation of her acting limitations. One of the reasons for the failure of the basic premise in THE PELICAN BRIEF--that Darby could uncover the truth while everyone else fumbles around--is that the lead actress does nothing to make us believe the possibility.
Ultimately, probably the biggest problem with THE PELICAN BRIEF is that it's a letdown. After all the running around (and there's a lot of that), all the gory deaths (there are a few of them), and all the anemic plot twists, the payoff is virtually nonexistent. Instead of the rousing conclusion expected from a screen thriller, THE PELICAN BRIEF fades away into an anticlimax.
Those who read the book have no need to see the movie, unless it's to satisfy the curiosity of how the conjurations of the imagination materialize through the filter of Pakula's interpretation. Those who haven't read the book will find material to catch their interest, but it's uncertain how long this ill-paced production will hold that attention.
So, after the disappointments of THE FIRM and THE PELICAN BRIEF, we now await the cinematic rendition of THE CLIENT, hoping that for Grisham's books, the third time will be a charm.
By : James Berardinelli
Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating: 2
THE PELICAN BRIEF has a lot in common with this summer's THE FIRM. Of course, both are based on uberbestsellers by John Grisham, but the similarities run deeper than that. THE FIRM starred Hollywood's most marketable male star, Tom Cruise; THE PELICAN BRIEF grabbed the most marketable female star, Julia Roberts. Both were directed by "prestige" directors, and both were constructed from the "slicker is better" model of thriller-making. In short, THE PELICAN BRIEF might as well *be* THE FIRM: an overlong, over-plotted, instantly forgettable entertainment sporadically enlivened by decent supporting performances. Unfortunately, it doesn't have Gene Hackman.
THE PELICAN BRIEF opens with the assassination of two Supreme Court justices who appear to have little in common, one an aging liberal and the other a young conservative. However, a possible link is discovered by Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts), a law student at Tulane University. Through her law professor/lover Thomas Callahan (Sam Shepard), Darby's theory, which comes to be known as "The Pelican Brief," is circulated in Washington. Among its implications are possible connections between the assassinations and the president (Robert Culp), and suddenly people start turning up dead. A frightened Darby turns to Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington), a White House reporter investigating the assassinations, and soon the two are running for their lives, desperately searching for proof of their theory before they too are added to the growing body count.
Technically, THE PELICAN BRIEF is just fine. Director Alan J. Pakula (ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, PRESUMED INNOCENT) knows how to ratchet up the tension, using pull-back crane shots to heighten the sense of paranoia. James Horner's score works well, even if it does depend overmuch on dissonant piano chords and wood block percussion. The problem with THE PELICAN BRIEF, the movie, is the same thing that's wrong with THE PELICAN BRIEF, the book: there's not a single interesting or original thing happening, either from a story or character perspective. The big conspiracy at the heart of the story is both insipid and insulting to one's intelligence. It's impossible to accept that no one considered the possibility of spacing out the assassinations, or being slightly more creative than putting a bullet in the head of a man who was on a respirator. There's only one possible reason for such stupidity: there wouldn't have been anything for a clever law student to sniff out. It's equally ludicrous to suggest that no one else in Federal law enforcement would have considered the possibilities Darby Shaw comes up with. Grisham's story is loaded with implausibilities and the payoff it offers for accepting them is simply not worth it.
The characters in Pakula's adaptation don't fare much better. Julia Roberts chose Darby Shaw as her first role in two years, but it's difficult to figure out why. There is not a shred of back story, nothing to suggest why she pursues the assassination story, nothing to make her anything but a positively bland lady in distress. To her credit, Roberts' reaction to an explosion is gripping, and she's thoroughly convincing at suggesting dazed trauma, but dazed and traumatized is about as fara as this role goes. Denzel Washington, one of the most talented and charismatic leading men around, has an equally blank slate with Gray Grantham; somehow he manages to act circles around a part where there's really nothing there. Up and down the cast it's the same story: Tony Goldwyn is the President's shadowy Chief of Staff; John Lithgow is Washington's skeptical editor; Stanley Tucci is the icy killer. Only Hume Cronyn, in a single scene as the aging justice Rosenberg, has any spark. No one else has a thing to work with.
THE FIRM was no piece of art, but at least its characters were reasonably fleshed out for the screen. THE PELICAN BRIEF asked me to sit through nearly two and a half hours of repetitive chases involving people I didn't care about. A third Grisham adaptation, THE CLIENT, is on its way next year. I suppose it's too much to ask that he's learned to write an interesting story by now.
