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The Firm

Play trailer 2:29 Poster for The Firm R Released Jun 30, 1993 2h 34m Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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76% Tomatometer 59 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
A young lawyer joins a small but prestigious law firm only to find out that most of their clients are on the wrong side of the law. The company is helping to launder mob money, get clients off charges and even murder partners who threaten to blow their cover, but when the FBI come calling to gather evidence on the lawyer's colleagues, he is caught between a rock and a hard place, juggling his life and his liberty.
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The Firm

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Critics Consensus

The Firm is a big studio thriller that amusingly tears apart the last of 1980s boardroom culture and the false securities it represented.

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Critics Reviews

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James Jackson The Times (UK) Cruise’s toothy heroics are ill-suited to moral complexity, but he is elevated by a stellar supporting cast... Nov 15, 2022 Full Review David Ansen Newsweek A summer genre movie for grown-ups, The Firm helps restore faith in Hollywood professionalism. May 15, 2018 Full Review Richard Corliss TIME Magazine Tom Cruise heads a tony cast in a best-seller movie that is firm at the start and infirm by the end. May 26, 2008 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) Those who admired the book will despise the movie and vice versa. [Full review in Spanish] Jun 9, 2022 Full Review Sean Collier Box Office Prophets The first adaptation of a John Grisham novel to top the box office, The Firm successfully feels like a mass-market page-turner. Rated: 8/10 Nov 16, 2020 Full Review Tom Meek Cambridge Day Tom Cruise is blessed with the amazing ensemble... and a screenplay contribution from Robert Towne, yet the result is a pat paper chase-cum-thriller that's looking constantly to break the surface. Rated: 2.5/4 Apr 6, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Ola G Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise), a top Harvard Law School graduate, accepts a lucrative offer from boutique law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke in Memphis, Tennessee. After he and wife Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn) relocate there, he prepares for the Tennessee bar exam. Senior partner Avery Tolar (Gene Hackman) mentors Mitch on the firm's strict culture of loyalty, confidentiality, and high fees. Although the money and benefits, such as a new house, a Mercedes-Benz, and paid-off student loans have swayed Mitch, Abby resents the firm's meddling in employees' personal lives. Mitch passes the bar exam and works grueling hours, straining his marriage. Under Avery's guidance, Mitch discovers the firm's primary work involves helping wealthy clients hide money in offshore shell corporations and other questionable tax-avoidance schemes. On a work trip to the Cayman Islands, Mitch overhears a client mentioning how the firm's Chicago associates "break legs”. At the firm's Cayman condominium, he finds documents linked to four deceased associates. Meanwhile, the firm's security chief, Bill DeVasher, sends a prostitute to seduce Mitch and uses photos of the assignation to blackmail him into silence. Mitch hires private investigator Eddie Lomax (Gary Busey), a former cell mate of Mitch’s brother Ray, to investigate the associates' deaths, but Lomax is murdered by hitmen, witnessed by his secretary Tammy (Holly Hunter). FBI agents reveal to Mitch that BL&L's top client is the Morolto crime family of the Chicago Outfit, and most of the firm's lawyers are involved in a significant tax fraud and money laundering scheme... Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus states: "The Firm is a big studio thriller that amusingly tears apart the last of 1980s boardroom culture and the false securities it represented." Roger Ebert gave The Firm three stars out of four, remarking: "The movie is virtually an anthology of good small character performances. [...] The large gallery of characters makes The Firm into a convincing canvas [... but] with a screenplay that developed the story more clearly, this might have been a superior movie, instead of just a good one with some fine performances." The film earned some negative reviews as well, notably from James Berardinelli, who said that "Very little of what made the written version so enjoyable has been successfully translated to the screen, and what we're left with instead is an overly-long [and] pedantic thriller." Grisham enjoyed the film, remarking: "I thought [Tom Cruise] did a good job. He played the innocent young associate very well." (Via Wikipedia) I saw "The Firm" at the movies for sure back in 1993, and it was time to re-see it. We get a great ensemble cast with Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman (Rest in peace) in the leading roles, but I think the issue with the film is that the storyline is not all that exciting nor unique and to be honest the film is overly-long as mentioned. It could´ve been edited down to two hours for sure and become a much more intense thriller. This is not amongst Tom Cruise's best ones. Interesting to see is that he had the Mission Impossible running in him already back in 1993. ; ) "The Firm" is ok, but not much more for me. Trivia: Released on June 30, 1993, the film was a major commercial success, grossing $270.2 million against a budget of $42 million, making it the highest grossing film adapted from a Grisham novel, fifth highest-grossing and the highest-grossing R-rated film of 1993, and received generally positive reviews for the performances (particularly from Cruise and Hunter), although the screenplay received some criticism. Holly Hunter was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, while Dave Grusin was nominated for Best Original Score. (Via Wikipedia) Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/06/25 Full Review Devra B I love this movie—suspenseful story, amazing acting. Highly recommend. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/28/25 Full Review Le S The plot goes rather weak at the end, but the real star of the film is its Casting Director. I mean, how cool is to have Jigsaw, and Special Agent Hank Schrader team up against Tom Cruise? Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/20/25 Full Review Chris H A well crafted and intelligent thriller with some interesting ideas. It's a John Grisham tale, so of course it's about lawyers and it's set in the Deep South; nothing wrong with that. There is one howler though; it's simply impossible to believe that Cruise's decent and devoted husband could go off with a random woman he meets on a beach (this is a set up, of course - most things are in this story). He just wouldn't. Anyway, that aside, Cruise does what Cruise does, Gene Hackman is terrific, as is Jeanne Tripplehorn, but Holly Hunter steals the show as the secretary of a private investigator who meets a sticky end, after which she becomes the resourceful confidante of Cruise's lawyer. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/17/25 Full Review Kyle J One of the best movies i have ever seen. I’m 64. Great story. Great acting. Great directing. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/03/24 Full Review Farah R The Firm remains one of Sydney Pollack's best films and an immensely entertaining thriller years later. Tom Cruise gives a stimulating performance in this well-crafted adaptation that draws you in and keeps you glued to your seat from start to finish. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/03/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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The Firm

The Firm: Official Clip - Outwitting the Hit The Firm: Official Clip - Outwitting the Hit 2:13 The Firm: Official Clip - The Chase The Firm: Official Clip - The Chase 2:13 The Firm: Official Clip - Escape from the Firm The Firm: Official Clip - Escape from the Firm 1:44 The Firm: Official Clip - Dead Lawyers The Firm: Official Clip - Dead Lawyers 1:58 The Firm: Official Clip - Tricking a Federal Agent The Firm: Official Clip - Tricking a Federal Agent 1:48 The Firm: Official Clip - If We Run, They'd Find Us The Firm: Official Clip - If We Run, They'd Find Us 1:44 The Firm: Official Clip - No Lawyer's Ever Left the Firm Alive The Firm: Official Clip - No Lawyer's Ever Left the Firm Alive 2:07 The Firm: Official Clip - Blackmail The Firm: Official Clip - Blackmail 2:13 The Firm: Official Clip - No Associate Has Ever Failed the Bar Exam The Firm: Official Clip - No Associate Has Ever Failed the Bar Exam 1:16 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis A young lawyer joins a small but prestigious law firm only to find out that most of their clients are on the wrong side of the law. The company is helping to launder mob money, get clients off charges and even murder partners who threaten to blow their cover, but when the FBI come calling to gather evidence on the lawyer's colleagues, he is caught between a rock and a hard place, juggling his life and his liberty.
Director
Sydney Pollack
Producer
Scott Rudin, John Davis, Sydney Pollack
Screenwriter
David Rabe, Robert Towne, David Rayfiel
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions, Davis Entertainment
Rating
R
Genre
Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 30, 1993, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
May 27, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA)
$157.0M
Runtime
2h 34m
Sound Mix
Surround
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