The Client (DVD)

This 1994 John Grisham adaptation has an all-star cast. Grisham novels are up there with my favourite books, and I thought this adaptation did the book justice. The Plot A young boy, Mark Sway, inadvertently witnesses the suicide of a mob boss. He turns to a lawyer, Reggie Love, to protect him so he does not have to be a witness for the District Attorney, a man who wants to mob so badly he will put anyone in danger to get them. Tensions run high as the mob and the courts have a tussle with Mark in the middle. The Cast and Performances Reggie Love is played by Susan Sarandon. She gives a 'Southern Belle' performance as a raw and ...  Read the complete review

Some films come out with such gusto that they HAVE to be good, and this is one of them. Thankfully it does meet its hype. The Client stars Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. It tells the story of a young lad who sees a suicide and hires a lawyer (Sarandon) to protect him from the mob as he goes up against them in court. The plot is excellent. Based on the Job Grisham novel, it's tense, unpredictable and original. It really does work well as a story, although the amount of court-room scenes put me off a bit. The acting is a conundrum. On the one hand Jones and Sarandon are stunning. These two know eachother and have a great connection on ...  Read the complete review

I'm not a fan of John Grisham novels, I've read a few until I realised they were pretty much the same thing rehashed over and over, but sadly, or not depending upon your viewpoint, they do translate very easily into everything Hollywood requires from it's legal thrillers - lots of action, not much in the way of originality and the cinematic equivalent of a good page-turner. They also seem to attract some of Hollywood's finest and with Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon taking up the lead adult roles here and Joel Schumacher(OK, 'finest' is a little tenuous there, but he does a few good ones!) planting himself in the director's chair, ...  Read the complete review

This is a film only review. I pretty much have enjoyed reading most of John Grisham's books and generally I think that they adapt well to the big screen. I read The Client many years ago and also watched the film, but it was such a long time that when I saw it on Film Four the other day it was like watching it for the first time. The film centres on a young boy called Mark Sway who, along with his younger brother, witnesses a man take his own life. However, this is no ordinary suicide though, as the man who killed himself had links to the mob. Suddenly, everyone from the district attorney to the mob to the media, is suddenly interested in what Mark ...  Read the complete review

I have just given up my virginity......my John Grisham virginity that is. I have fought against his work as I could not see any reasons why I would like it, after my wife filled me in on the various repetitive plots as she read each new book. Then last week I could not sleep and whilst channel hopping saw that this film was about to start, and as there was nothing else I fancied, I decided to watch it and see what all the fuss was about. I was pleased to see that it was not an unknown cast, with Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones taking centre stage, led by Joel Schumacher, who has directed a couple of films I have enjoyed. I hated to admit it but it was all ...  Read the complete review