THE PELICAN BRIEF
A film review by Jon A. Webb
Copyright 1993 Jon A. Webb
THE PELICAN BRIEF has Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington running around together, being pursued by semi-government types in an obvious political thriller. The movie seems to be more about how beautiful Roberts and Washington are, and what nice clothes they wear, than anything else. If you accept these terms, the movie is fun and enjoyable to watch. (Roberts is more beautiful than ever.) But don't go expecting thrills or suspense, or much of an acting stretch by Roberts or Washington.
Roberts plays a law student who somehow uncovers the truth behind the recent assassinations of two Supreme Court justices. She writes up her theory, calling it "The Pelican Brief," and it gets into the hands of the people who did the assassination. Naturally, she becomes a target. In her effort to get the truth out and save her own life, she teams up with Washington, a reporter who seems to have remarkably close ties to the government.
There are two odd things about this movie. One is that no attempt is made to achieve any verisimilitude in the pursuit of Roberts and Washington. She goes into hiding, with an apparently huge amount of money "from her father," then shows up in new outfits each day. Washington also is always nicely dressed; everything is beautifully pressed. Now, this makes these two handsome people even more handsome, but it just doesn't make any sense.
Another point: Roberts always stays in the best hotels, which of course require a credit card check on checking in, even if you pay with cash. Wouldn't this make it awfully easy for the shadowy, presumably well-connected forces searching for her? Movies like this stand or fall on the consistency of details; it's supposed to be a pleasure to see how carefully the screenwriters have crafted a story that is consistent with everyday reality. Sloppiness is laughable.
The other odd thing is that Roberts and Washington never experience passionate love for each other. I don't know how long it is since I've seen a movie where two attractive people spend time together, staying in hotel rooms and being pursued by the bad guys, and don't fall in love and have sex. It's part of the standard story. Instead, Roberts and Washington seem to develop a deep repect for each other, and have a Platonic relationship. Could it be that Hollywood has finally realized that two sexually compatible people don't need to experience sexual ecstasy to confirm their friendship? (Ha.) Or is it possible that a sexual relationship was ruled out because it would cross a color line? I think this is the case, and find this sort of subtle racist assumption very disturbing (in a way, more disturbing than explicit racism.)
The direction is leaden and unconvincing, especially towards the end. About thirty minutes into the movie, you know everything that's going to happen, and only details need to be filled in. There is little suspense even in the most thrillingly staged scenes, because you know that a movie like this is not going to sacrifice its two leads--this is no PSYCHO. At the end, when they were wrapping up the details, it was as though they were slogging through mud, trying to reach the end of the trail before the last reel ran out.
It is interesting to compare this film with THE FIRM, which was also based on a John Grisham novel. THE FIRM is much better, I think because it took more liberties with the novel (I'm guessing at this, because I haven't read either book), and because of the good direction and fine acting (particularly by Cruise and Hunter.) I especially liked the scene towards the end, where Cruise is confronted at the law firm and he can't think of anything else to do, so he just runs away. It was a brilliant moment, coming quite close to the edge of comedy, which made perfect sense. There is nothing like that in this film, and no loony comment delivered perfectly like Holly Hunter's comment about the coffee pot, either.
-- J
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