FAQ

Following the assassinations of two radically-different U.S. Supreme Court justices, Tulane University law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) researches their backgrounds to see whether she can find any similarities that might tie them together and explain why they were killed. She finds that they were both avid supporters of environmental issues. Darby writes up her findings, which become known as The Pelican Brief, and gives them to her professor (and lover) Thomas Callahan (Sam Shepard). He passes it on to his friend Gavin Vereek (John Heard), a lawyer with the FBI, who shares it with FBI director Denton Voyles (James Sikking), who eventually passes it on to White House Chief of Staff Fletcher Coal (Tony Goldwyn). Soon thereafter, Callahan and Vereek are murdered, and Darby fears that she's going to be next, so she teams up with Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington), another friend of Callahan's, in order to make her findings known.

The Pelican Brief (1992) is a novel written by American author John Grisham. The book was adapted for the screen by American film maker Alan J. Pakula, who also directed the movie.

Darby knew the car was going to blow up because it failed to start right away. She had noticed this same thing happening to Thomas Callahan's car right before it exploded.