The Client

Back in 1994, I read this book and just like other John Grisham's novels, with the exception of "The Pelican Brief", once I started reading, I couldn't put it down.

Director Joel Schumacher and Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman did an excellent job keeping the movie within the storyline without doing a horrible "hatchet job" most do to novels.

In addition, there was an excellent flow to the movie. It kept moving along; There wasn't very many slow moments in it and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

The casting was great as well. I liked Susan Sarandon as Reggie Love, Brad Renfro as Mark Sway, Tommy Lee Jones was a perfect fit as the "Revered" Roy Foltrigg. Will Patton as Sergent Hardy, was an excellent sleezy and conniving officer.

When I saw Anthony LaPaglia as Barry "The Blade" Muldano, I didn't envision the greasy sleezeball he portrayed, but someone more tougher or perhaps more thuggish. But Anthony LaPaglia fit just fine.

This is a movie worth renting.

The premise of The Client is great. The first act sets the scene for a really tense and interesting flick. Things go downhill steadily all the way through to the final act. The film has a great cast. Susan Sarandon is excellent as is Tommy Lee Jones. It's the plot and pacing that lets it down.

We go from a believable difficult situation into more farce as with each passing minute. The thing is it happens pretty slowly so it's at about the 2/3rd point that the wheels start to come off.

Pity as the cast are brilliant.

The Client is a good film with moments of extreme greatness especially for a courtroom thriller such as this. But there are also scenes where they should have been added into the editing room. The film was excellent in the beginning, slows to a crawl in the middle, and picks up in the end. If it stayed like the beginning, this film would have been flawless.

After a 11-year-old kid and his brother witnessed a suicide, the kid hires an attorney to help protect him and his family from threatening mafia members and a stubborn Federal District attorney.

The acting is very good in this film. Susan Sarandon seemed like she was born to play this role. She was just perfect! For a kid who never acted before, Brad Renfro was brilliant as the snobby 11-year-old.

Overall, this is a slightly above-average crime thriller. Sarandon steals the show as her role of the attorney. Joel Schumacher directed a masterpiece compared to the Batman films he would take over after this film. I rate this film 8/10.

'The Client' is perhaps one of the many films that won't be enjoyed as much after one has read the book. I, having not read John Grisham's novel, quite enjoyed it. Sure the movie has its flaws in the form of plot holes, caricatures, obvious clichés etc, but it essentially manages to keep the viewer engaged. 'The Client' is further backed up by strong performances. Susan Sarandon makes full use of her powerful screen presence and easily stands out. No wonder she's an exceptional actress. Reggie Love is one of her most memorable performances (among the so many she's already given). The late Brad Renfro, as the young Sway, is very competent and does impress in several scenes. Tommy Lee Jones is funny (both intentionally and unintentionally). From the supporting cast, Mary-Louise Parker leaves a mark. William H. Macy barely has more than a few lines but has a dignified presence. The villains both look and act like caricatures. In a nutshell, it's an interesting film with a flawed but gripping plot and marvelous performances.

Wow, what a cast! And they all deliver the goods too. Susan Sarandon is an exceptional actress. Watch the scene in "Dead Man Walking" when she visits the family of one of the victims. She doesn't just sit quietly. She actively "listens" to them. And Tommy Lee Jones uncovers the comic side of his dashing political lawyer. Even the eleven-year-old kid gives a spot on performance, anything but cute, which is a relief. The smaller roles are equally well done although there is less to be done well. J. T. Walsh is always good. Mary-Louise Parker never makes a wrong move as the stressed-out mother. Ossie Davis is a monumental presence as the judge. Bill Macy is given only a few lines.

The script isn't bad either, especially in the first half of the film, in which the characters are being established. There are, alas, three clichés.

The bad guys LOOK like move bad guys usually look. They dress in black, have long greasy hair, are engraved with threatening jailhouse tattoos of barbed wire and things, and they never seem to enjoy themselves.

There are also two stereotypical scenes which really should have been avoided. In the first, the boy, Renfro, is trying to sneak out of a hospital. He pokes his face through a door into the reception room, where he sees his mother and two cops walking around. In the shadows he also spots the man he knows is trying to murder him. So what does he do? Does he run to his Mom and the police for protection? Certainly not. He does what aay potential murder victim would do. He dashes away from safety, down several flights of an empty stairway, followed closely by the squinter with a knife. The scene that follows is lifted straight out of "Coma," with the killer being locked in a refrigerator.

The other stereotyped situation is towards the end, when (just by the most improbable of coincidences) Sarandon and Renfro reach an empty boat house at the same time as three of the heavies. The two innocents try to avoid being discovered. There is a lot of tiptoeing around on creaky boards, a foot chase through some bushes, one of those scenes in which one person holds a gun on a second, and the second smiles and says, "You don't have the guts to pull the trigger," and walks up closer to the muzzle.

I've pointed out these weaknesses not because this is a bad movie. It's really pretty good. But the cast is so outstanding that any weakness in the story is the more highly illuminated.

See it, if only to see the range of facial expressions into which Jones is able to fashion his face.