The Pelican Brief (1993):

Starring:

Julia Roberts - Darby Shaw

Denzel Washington - Gray Grantham

Sam Sheppard - Thomas Callahan

John Heard - Gavin Vereek

Tony Goldwyn - Fletcher Coal

James Sikking - FBI Director Denton Voyles

William Atherton - Bob Gminski

Robert Culp - The President

Stanley Tucci - Khamel

John Lithgow - Smith Keen

Anthony Heald - Marty Velmano

Nicholas Woodeson - Stump

Director:

Alan J. Pakula (All The President's Men; Sophie's Choice)

Synopsis:

Embroiled in an affair with Thomas Callahan (Sam Shephard), her alcoholic professor, precocious 24-year-old Tulane University law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) writes up an insightful theory about the recent murder of two Supreme Court justices, one of whom, Abraham Rosenberg (Hume Cronyn), served as Callahan's mentor. When Callahan shares this so-called "Pelican Brief" with buddy Gavin Verheek (John Heard), an FBI lawyer, the document makes its way to White House flack Fletcher Coal (Tony Goldwyn), who believes it could topple the current administration. When Callahan is murdered and the President (Robert Culp) convinces the FBI to hold off on investigating Darby's theory, the resourceful student must go into hiding, stalked by relentless assassin Khamel (Stanley Tucci). Her only hope of escaping Callahan's fate and proving her theory lies in Washington investigative reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington), who's already had one confidential source back out of sharing information about the assassinations.

Review:

Very long. Very boring. Well acted but not good enough to make it worth sitting all the way through. Your typical political thriller only with less action. Some good performances by Denzel, Sam Sheppard & Stanley Tucci (although he has very limited lines). Julia Roberts doesn't do it for me, even if she was very young in this movie). John Lithgow needed a bigger role, if only for the fact that he's incredible.

Budget: $45,000,000

Box Office: $195,268,056

Profit: $150,268,056

Rotten Tomatoes: 52%

Flixster: 62%

55%

Lead Acting: 13/15

Supporting Cast: 9/15

Plot: 7/10

Compared To The Genre: 4/10

Cinematography: 10/20

Intrigue: 7/20

Extra: 6/10