| | | Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everyone else wants her dead.
Features: DVD
Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington headline and Alan J. Pakula (Presumed Innocent) directs this first-rate thriller based on the best-selling book by John Grisham. Two Supreme Court justices have been murdered and a lone law student (Roberts) turns her suspicions about the deaths into a speculative brief that sends shock waves into the highest levels of government. She and a determined investigative reporter )(Washington) want to tell the world what they have uncovered--if they live to tell it. The race is on and these two are more than runners. They're moving targets.
"Fast moving..." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"Thrillers don't get any better than this." James Langfield, The Movie Minute
"Enormous suspense..." Good MOrning America, ABC-TV
"A heart-stopping, spine-chilling, adrenaline-pumping, run-for-your-life thriller." Pat Collins, WWOR-TV
Editor's Note
Julia Roberts (ERIN BROCKOVICH) stars in THE PELICAN BRIEF as sharp law student Darby Shaw whose querying mind gets her into trouble. A faithful adaptation of John Grisham's (THE FIRM) best-selling novel, this taut thriller follows the travails that beset Shaw when her theory on the cause of the deaths of two Supreme Court Justices lands her name on the conspirators' hit list. When Shaw teams up with reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington--THE HURRICANE) they find themselves dodging deadly assassins in a suspenseful story that weaves complex narrative strands. The well-cast film also features a cameo by playwright-actor Sam Shepard (TRUE WEST).
Plot Summary
In Alan J. Pakula's (KLUTE) thriller THE PELICAN BRIEF Julia Roberts plays Tulane University law student Darby Shaw. After the consecutive murders of two Supreme Court Justices, she becomes intrigued with the case and assembles a brief on her theory of who committed the murders. However, things start to get tricky when those who've read her brief turn up as corpses, which prompts her to enlist help from Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington). Their further gathering of evidence to prove her hypothesis only results in moving their names up on the hit-list. Replete with cameo roles by high-profile actors such as playwright Sam Shepard (TRUE WEST) as the law professor with whom Shaw has an affair, this box office hit closely follows popular novelist John Grisham's (THE FIRM) best-selling book. The film's themes are in line with late director Pakula's abiding interest in conspiracy drama, a topic explored in many of his best films such as ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and THE PARALLAX VIEW.
| Features | Region 1 | | Snap Case | | Letterbox - 1.85 | | Widescreen - 1.85 | | Interactive Features:
| Scene Access | | Interactive Menus | | Text/Photo Galleries:
| Production Notes |
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| Technical Info
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Release Information
|  | Studio: Warner |
| Release Date: 11/10/2009 |
| Running Time: 141 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1993 | | Catalog ID: 12989 | | UPC: 00085391298922 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...A celebration of liquid brown eyes and serious star quality....[Roberts and Washington] make the movie shine..." 12/17/1993 p.C1Variety
"...A taut, intellectual thriller....Roberts is simply terrific....Washington also impresses..." 12/20/1993 Entertainment Weekly
"...Roberts returns from her time off with a newly confident grace....She's as luminous as a dream of a movie star. As for Washington, it's doubtful whether there's a smarter leading man working today..." 12/24/1993 p.38 |
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| Customer Reviews | ![]() | | Cinematography |  4 | | Plot | 4 | | Acting |  5 | | Overall Satisfaction | 4 |
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1 of 1 customers found this review helpful.
4 of 5 Great Flick ... Lousy DVD Wednesday, March 13, 2002
Jason D. from Provo, Utah
I read the book first and still really enjoyed this movie. Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts are two of my favorite actors, and they did not disappoint me in this film. However, the DVD version needs some help. Because I enjoyed the movie so much in the theater, this DVD was one of the first that I purchased upon buying a DVD player. However, when the movie suddenly stopped about an hour into the show, I was ready to scream. At first I thought the disc was defective, but then I realized that the second half of the movie was on the other side of the DVD. None of my other DVD's require flipping! How ridiculous! What kind of ancient technology is Warner Brothers dealing in?! (I understand that many of the older DVD's were like that, but I purchased this DVD in January 2002. WB needs to release an updated version!) Bottom line? Buy this movie, and enjoy it. However, if you don't have a DVD player that will auto-flip your DVD's, buy this movie on VHS! Was this review helpful?  
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