Fresh
It's too bad that Pakula allows this 1993 movie to dawdle after its climax, but prior to that he's adept at suggesting unseen menace and keeping things in motion.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
The Pelican Brief
Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead.
1993 · 2h 21m · PG-13
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Directed by
Alan J. Pakula
Overview
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
Director and cast
- Alan J. Pakula Director
- Julia Roberts as Darby Shaw
- Denzel Washington as Gray Grantham
- Sam Shepard as Thomas Callahan
- John Heard as Gavin Vereek
- Tony Goldwyn as Fletcher Cole
- James B. Sikking as FBI Director Denton Voyles
- William Atherton as Bob Gminski
- Robert Culp as The President
- Stanley Tucci Cast
- Hume Cronyn Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
56%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Pakula has improved on Grisham's book by excising much of the detritus, crafting a taut, intelligent thriller that succeeds on almost every level.
Brian Lowry, Variety
Rotten
An old hand at this sort of thing, Pakula goes through the motions, but not much more.
Derek Adams, Time Out
Rotten
As the film piles on shovelfuls of further exposition, Mr. Washington and Ms. Roberts are left to look terrific and recite perfunctory lines.
Janet Maslin, New York Times
Rotten
A brightly wrapped, ketchup-drenched mush-burger, it slides down the Zeitgeist esophagus like a slippery McPelican. You pay, you swallow, you drive home. You're left with nothing except, possibly, heartburn.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
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