Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

mathomas-28053 This movie is so topical I can hardly believe it. The director of the FBI sits with the president in the oval office and says, "So you want me to back off the investigation for a while?" Could be Comey and Trump. The similarities are chilling. I guess nothing ever changes.If you'd like to know what's going on behind the scenes as Trump, Sessions, Comey, Rosenstein, Mueller, and the comatose GOP Congress debates Trump's involvement as a Russian spy, watch this movie. It will put meat on the bones that you see every day in the news. Denzel and Julie are terrific, and the script is wonderful. I don't know who all these people are who call this movie boring, they must be TRANSFORMERS fans or something. Not a boring minute for a mature movie goer. Every bit as good as ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN.

DeuceWild_77 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...

Parker Lewis I learned today of Sam Shepard's death, and it moved me to write a review of The Pelican Brief, one of my favorite movies from the 90s. It's hard to believe it was almost a quarter of a century ago that this classic was released.The James Horner soundtrack is haunting and memorable, and kind of reminds me of his Sneakers soundtrack.I thought the forces of political correctness dictated the plot. There was a scene where the characters of Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington were to have sex, but I understand the writers changed their minds due to political correctness. It would have been politically incorrect if the two characters had slept together I guess.

slightlymad22 I'm not much of a fan of either Julia Roberts or Denzel Washington. With Washington, his race always comes in to every movie he stars in, Usually with him being on the end of some form of racial abuse. As for Roberts, she just bores me. Plot in A Paragraph: Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) a law student writes a legal brief detailing her theory on why two Supreme Court justices were assassinated and under whose orders, and shows it to her law professor, and lover Thomas Callahan (Sam Shepard). He gives a copy to his friend Gavin Verheek (John Heard) at the FBI. Before long Callaghan is dead and she reaches out to Verheek and Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington) for help.Amazingly John Grisham wrote the part of Darby Shaw with Julia Roberts in mind. Roberts read the book once it was finished and agreed to the role without even seeing a script. I find this amazing as she is woefully miscast as a law student, as she struggles with the dialogue, and lacks any conviction as a believable law student.Made at the height of Roberts popularity and Washington was hot coming off the back of his Oscar nomination for "Malcolm X" it was a great pairing!! I think if these two made the stinker "I Love Trouble" (That Roberts followed this up with) that year it still would have been a hit!! Despite enjoying it, and some great performances, I will probably never watch this againMy race bug bearer of watching Washington came up 3 times during this movies run time! As for Roberts she continues to be a popular actress, however I lost interest in her and her movies a long time ago, I have only seen five of her movies since 2000.