The Firm (1993)

Elevator Pitch: A bright law graduate is hired by a Memphis law firm under unbelievably generous terms, and he moves to the city with his young wife. All seems well until he is approached by the FBI looking for help and pointing out to him that four lawyers from the firm have died under mysterious circumstances. A private eye, who Mitch commissions to look into matters, is shot dead, leaving him with few choices but to go along with the firm, particularly since they hae photos of him doing it with a young woman on the beach during a company outing.

Content: There is sex in the gloom and quite a bit of drinking. Legal stuff takes place in the law offices of the firm. Mich has fun with his boss in the Caymen Islands. Things become steadily more threatening. He confesses to his wife that he has been unfaithful and she leaves him.  But since he is a very clever young man he finds a way of dealing with the firm, the FBI and his wife and a way of remaining alive.

A View: Apart from being a bit long this was pretty watchable, and Holly Hunter was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. I kept thinking – has Tom Cruise really been with us that long – and can still run just as fast. There are problems with the plot, and it just does not seem to be too much of a surprise when the purpose of the law firm is revealed. And apparently the book did not end in quite the same way. So a watch for nothing or a moderate download cost.

Additional Info: I kept wondering why Tobin Bell, as a minor gangster, seemed familiar. He can’t have seen Saw coming.