The Pelican Brief

1993
PG-13
2h 21m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

98K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

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Conspiracy Thriller Dark Comedy Legal Thriller Political Thriller Crime Drama Mystery Thriller

A law student uncovers a conspiracy, putting herself and others in danger.A law student uncovers a conspiracy, putting herself and others in danger.A law student uncovers a conspiracy, putting herself and others in danger.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

98K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

3,374

360

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations

Trivia
John Grisham typically signs over the rights to his books and does not participate in film production decisions. For "The Pelican Brief," he campaigned to get Julia Roberts the role of Darby Shaw.

Goofs
Justice Jensen is killed by Khamel using a rope to strangle him. It takes him no more than a second to kill him. It seems highly unlikely that one could strangle a person in just one second. However, the strangulation is not shown, but judging by Khamel's quick yank and the sound Jensen made, it seems likely that he successfully dislocated or crushed a vertebra in his neck, which would quickly cause suffocation.

Quotes
Gray Grantham: How'd you find me?
Darby Shaw: I called the paper and asked for your address.
Gray Grantham: And he told you?
Darby Shaw: I told them I was your sister Mary in from out of town and couldn't find you.
Gray Grantham: [looks surprised] How'd you know I had a sister Mary?
Darby Shaw: You're not the only one that does research.

Alternate versions
The Blu-ray release plastered the opening Warner Bros. Pictures logo with the silent version of the 2003 variant.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Schindler's List/Geronimo: An American Legend/Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit/Wayne's World 2/Six Degrees of Separation (1993)

Soundtracks
Blues For Carol
Written and Performed by Clarence Hollimon
Courtesy of Black Top Records

User reviews158

Review

Featured review

7/10

A solid popcorn thriller

Back in 93 when this film rocked box offices, I was 13 and obsessed with it. I was such a weirdo lol. It was mostly Julia Roberts and she is still one of my favorite actresses. She stars as Darby Shaw a young law student having relations with her professor. She creates a document called the pelican brief as an explanation of why some Judges were murdered. Her lover passes it off to his friend in the bureau and it begins to circulate leaving dead bodies in its wait, Including her boyfriend. Suddenly she's on the run and finds solace when she reaches out to an investigative reporter played by a solid Denzel Washington. Together they must try and survive so that can get the truth out. Watching it now it's still quite entertaining but Roberts is a little over emotional and the actual brief is never fully explained. It's undoubtedly fun but their characters and the plot aren't developed enough to truly be effective. The end it's smart popcorn entertainment.

Budget: $45m Domestic Box Office: $101m Worldwide Box Office: $195m

3.5/5