Two Supreme Court Justices have been killed. The president (Robert Culp) wants investigations but nobody has a clue. Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) is a law student sleeping with her professor Thomas Callahan (Sam Shepard). She obsessively research to find a case with both Justices on the same side and possibly a motive. Callahan gives it to Gavin Vereek (John Heard) working for the FBI. The brief goes all the way to Fletcher Coal (Tony Goldwyn) White House Chief of Staff. Fletcher Coal is concerned that something in the brief will be embarrassing to the White House. Soon after professor Callahan is killed in a car bomb.
Meanwhile reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington) working the case from a different angle receives a call from an informant called Garcia. When killers come after Darby, she contacts Grantham.
This thriller takes too long to get going. It is too complicated and goes on forever. Based on a John Grisham novel, this movie has no mystery. The bad guys are obviously bad. The case behind all the killers is nothing more than an excuse. As a thriller, it has a few moments. It's just never gets rolling for long. Every time there is a bit of excitement, it's followed by grinding exposition. Julia Roberts is playing up the damsel in distress so much. The crying is really distracting. She's constantly talking in a soft low voice.
While Julia on the run is compelling, she does things that seems unlikely. For example, why does she meet her friend Alice in person? Why not just call? Presumably she called her to meet. It's not like she got money for her. She could have told her everything on the phone.
And why not tell Grantham the entire story? What's the point of holding back? Presumably he's not part of the conspiracy. Also why not rewrite the Pelican brief? She wrote it in the first place. Couldn't she rewrite it again? There are just too many nagging questions about the logic of everything. I can appreciate the complexity of it all, and a few things will fall through the cracks. That's why real intense rewrites are necessary.
Also the bad guys keep being right there waiting for them, bugging everywhere, and yet can't seem to kill them. They shoot at them from far away, but when they're close, they never even try. When a shooting would be so much easier, the bad guy uses a car bomb.
Meanwhile reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington) working the case from a different angle receives a call from an informant called Garcia. When killers come after Darby, she contacts Grantham.
This thriller takes too long to get going. It is too complicated and goes on forever. Based on a John Grisham novel, this movie has no mystery. The bad guys are obviously bad. The case behind all the killers is nothing more than an excuse. As a thriller, it has a few moments. It's just never gets rolling for long. Every time there is a bit of excitement, it's followed by grinding exposition. Julia Roberts is playing up the damsel in distress so much. The crying is really distracting. She's constantly talking in a soft low voice.
While Julia on the run is compelling, she does things that seems unlikely. For example, why does she meet her friend Alice in person? Why not just call? Presumably she called her to meet. It's not like she got money for her. She could have told her everything on the phone.
And why not tell Grantham the entire story? What's the point of holding back? Presumably he's not part of the conspiracy. Also why not rewrite the Pelican brief? She wrote it in the first place. Couldn't she rewrite it again? There are just too many nagging questions about the logic of everything. I can appreciate the complexity of it all, and a few things will fall through the cracks. That's why real intense rewrites are necessary.
Also the bad guys keep being right there waiting for them, bugging everywhere, and yet can't seem to kill them. They shoot at them from far away, but when they're close, they never even try. When a shooting would be so much easier, the bad guy uses a car bomb.