Let me start to say that i never read the John Grisham's book this movie is based on, so i'm judging only the motion picture.
When "The Pelican Brief" came out in '93 it was a major box office hit everywhere, partly due to the casting of Julia Roberts as Darby Shaw (still riding on the "Pretty Woman" success which made her being cast in almost every greenlighted project around that time, from the average potboiler, "Sleeping with the Enemy" to the trite / corny, "Dying Young" and Spielberg's misstep, "Hook", all undeserved blockbusters...) and for being the second Grisham's work adapted to the big screen, after the vastly superior "The Firm" directed by Sidney Pollack and starring Tom Cruise, which opened earlier in that year with good reviews and millions earned at the box office.
The veteran Alan J. Pakula was a great director during the 70's, his political thrillers such as "The Parallax View" ('74) and "All the President's Men" ('76) or the crime / thriller "Klute" ('71) are among the best made in that decade, but in the 80's besides "Sophie's Choice" ('82) his career kind of tanked, only saved by the critical and box office success of "Presumed Innocent" ('90), starring Harrison Ford, that made Pakula a relevant name again and based on his skill directing those political thriller films, Warner Bros. offered him the chance to helm "The Pelican Brief", which he also produce and provided the screenplay.
The story itself, even if it was standard, became confusing since the start due to badly edited sequences and the lack of information that was given to the viewer about what is happening on screen and who are those people involved in that situations, with Pakula assuming that every moviegoer read the book. Scenes were randomly happening, characters appear and disappear without proper development or explanation and the way Darby uncovers the truth, surpassing the F.B.I., it's too far-fetched.
It didn't help that the pace is sluggish and the movie didn't involve, amaze or even dare, it's in fact dull and boring mostly of its length and feels like Pakula condensed half the book in some key scenes to get the storyline moving and the rest was just for showing the imposed by the Studio, Julia Roberts in every scene and camera angle possible and imaginary (and always with the same irritating expression).
A bored looking Denzel was cast in a role that asked for a rich white man, playing here second fiddle to a troubled protagonist (like he did in "Philadelphia" the very same year, but he was much better in that) and refused the interracial love affair with Roberts like the characters in the book, which was a good decision not because of the skin color, but for the lack of on-screen chemistry between the two.
The brilliant supporting cast are wasted here: the late great Sam Shepard was given almost nothing to do; John Heard & Stanley Tucci failed to leave an impression; Robert Culp played his part too goofy to be the President of United States and only Tony Goldwin (still in "Ghost" mode) showed some signs of being awake.
In short, "The Pelican Brief" is a lifeless film directed by an once big name director, far away from his glory days, that feels more like a Julia Roberts' vehicle than an exciting political thriller. It may be one of the worst Grisham's adaptations to the big screen, if you like the genre you rather watch "The Firm", "The Client" ('94) or even "A Time to Kill" ('96), because this one is a near waste of time...
When "The Pelican Brief" came out in '93 it was a major box office hit everywhere, partly due to the casting of Julia Roberts as Darby Shaw (still riding on the "Pretty Woman" success which made her being cast in almost every greenlighted project around that time, from the average potboiler, "Sleeping with the Enemy" to the trite / corny, "Dying Young" and Spielberg's misstep, "Hook", all undeserved blockbusters...) and for being the second Grisham's work adapted to the big screen, after the vastly superior "The Firm" directed by Sidney Pollack and starring Tom Cruise, which opened earlier in that year with good reviews and millions earned at the box office.
The veteran Alan J. Pakula was a great director during the 70's, his political thrillers such as "The Parallax View" ('74) and "All the President's Men" ('76) or the crime / thriller "Klute" ('71) are among the best made in that decade, but in the 80's besides "Sophie's Choice" ('82) his career kind of tanked, only saved by the critical and box office success of "Presumed Innocent" ('90), starring Harrison Ford, that made Pakula a relevant name again and based on his skill directing those political thriller films, Warner Bros. offered him the chance to helm "The Pelican Brief", which he also produce and provided the screenplay.
The story itself, even if it was standard, became confusing since the start due to badly edited sequences and the lack of information that was given to the viewer about what is happening on screen and who are those people involved in that situations, with Pakula assuming that every moviegoer read the book. Scenes were randomly happening, characters appear and disappear without proper development or explanation and the way Darby uncovers the truth, surpassing the F.B.I., it's too far-fetched.
It didn't help that the pace is sluggish and the movie didn't involve, amaze or even dare, it's in fact dull and boring mostly of its length and feels like Pakula condensed half the book in some key scenes to get the storyline moving and the rest was just for showing the imposed by the Studio, Julia Roberts in every scene and camera angle possible and imaginary (and always with the same irritating expression).
A bored looking Denzel was cast in a role that asked for a rich white man, playing here second fiddle to a troubled protagonist (like he did in "Philadelphia" the very same year, but he was much better in that) and refused the interracial love affair with Roberts like the characters in the book, which was a good decision not because of the skin color, but for the lack of on-screen chemistry between the two.
The brilliant supporting cast are wasted here: the late great Sam Shepard was given almost nothing to do; John Heard & Stanley Tucci failed to leave an impression; Robert Culp played his part too goofy to be the President of United States and only Tony Goldwin (still in "Ghost" mode) showed some signs of being awake.
In short, "The Pelican Brief" is a lifeless film directed by an once big name director, far away from his glory days, that feels more like a Julia Roberts' vehicle than an exciting political thriller. It may be one of the worst Grisham's adaptations to the big screen, if you like the genre you rather watch "The Firm", "The Client" ('94) or even "A Time to Kill" ('96), because this one is a near waste of time...