The Firm (1993 film)
| The Firm | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Sydney Pollack |
| Produced by |
John Davis Sydney Pollack Scott Rudin |
| Screenplay by |
David Rabe Robert Towne David Rayfiel |
| Based on |
The Firm 1991 novel by John Grisham |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Dave Grusin |
| Cinematography | John Seale |
| Edited by |
William Steinkamp Fredric Steinkamp |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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154 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $42 million |
| Box office | $270,248,367 |
The Firm is a 1993 American legal thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Holly Hunter, Hal Holbrook, and David Strathairn. The film is based on the 1991 novel The Firm by author John Grisham. The Firm was one of two films released in 1993 that was adapted from a Grisham novel, the other being The Pelican Brief.
Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) is a young man from an impoverished background, but with a promising future in law. About to graduate from Harvard Law School near the top of his class, he receives a generous job offer from Bendini, Lambert & Locke, a small, boutique firm in Memphis specializing in accounting and tax law. He and his wife, Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn), move to Memphis and Mitch sets to work studying to pass the Tennessee bar exam. Avery Tolar (Gene Hackman), one of the firm's senior partners, becomes his mentor and begins introducing Mitch to BL&L's professional culture, which demands complete loyalty, strict confidentiality, and a willingness to charge exceptional fees for their services. Seduced by the money and perks showered on him, including a house and car, he is at first totally oblivious to the more sinister side of his new employer, although Abby has her suspicions.
Mitch passes the bar exam and begins working long hours that put a strain on his marriage. Working closely with Avery, Mitch learns that most of the Firm's work involves helping wealthy clients hide large amounts of money in off-shore shell corporations and other dubious tax-avoidance schemes. While on a trip to the Cayman Islands on behalf of a client, Mitch is seduced by a local woman and cheats on Abby. Unbeknownst to Mitch, this encounter is a set-up and their tryst on the beach is photographed by people working for the firm's sinister security chief, Bill DeVasher (Wilford Brimley), who later uses these photographs as blackmail to keep Mitch quiet about what he knows.
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