Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Pelican Brief (1993)
Director: Alan J Pakula
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The assassination of two Supreme Court justices has bewildered the nation, but not coltish, flame-haired law student Darby Shaw (Roberts), whose unofficial conspiracy theory is shockingly vindicated by anonymous hitmen. Exit Darby's sozzled mentor Callahan (Shepard), enter crusading reporter Grantham (Washington). Writer/director Pakula's adaptation of John Grisham's potboiler is a classy but transparent reintroduction to Roberts' sympathetic spunky/vulnerable screen presence (and also, regrettably, to her limited range). Washington, on the other hand, breathes composure and self-assurance, despite finding himself fighting with his impatient news editor, clarifying the plot with a sketchy flow-diagram, and other clichés from the thriller-hack's manual. An old hand at this sort of thing, Pakula goes through the motions, but not much more.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: Alan J Pakula
Producer: Alan J Pakula, Pieter Jan Brugge
Cast: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard, John Heard, Tony Goldwyn, James B Sikking, Robert Culp, John Lithgow full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 141 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now