The pelican brief (1993)

[Neville]

Oh God how I really hate this movie. It is slow, boring and full of pretensions. For those who haven't seen it, it is a political thriller based on a John Grisham novel.

I think the real problem is director Allan Pakula. In his later films (this and "Devil's own") he tried to film every script he was given as if it was the more serious and IMPORTANT thing of the world. This means he tried to approach every single scene as if he was working for National Geographic. Actors are dull, music almost unexistant, pace deliberately slow. The problem is, of course, that no script written with entertainment in mind can work under that conditions. Pakula's attitude causes every inconsistancy, every plot hole, every ill conceived character to stand out. And of course his style looks completely out of place.

A great deal of the plot deals with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington trying to reveal to the public a huge scandal, something very similar to an earlier Pakula film, which covered the Watergate scandal. Using the same treatment on two different stories, one real and the other one written for entertainment, manages to make him loose all credibility. Are we suppossed to think how realistic and serious everything looks when the two leads run faster than cars? Or when Julia Roberts ruins every dramatic moment? Or when the moronic student played by Roberts solves big misteries by visiting the local library? Oh, please...

[Ash]

I hated this film as well.

I couldn't finish it and to this day I've never seen the rest of it.

What a waste of talent, money and film!!

Mark this on your calendars!  Neville & I agree again!

LOL!!!

[raj]

I hated the book enough to not want to see the movie, especially with Julia Roberts in it.