This article is about the 1993 film. For the 1988 film of the same name, see The Firm (1988 film) The Firm is a 1988 TV film by Al Hunter Ashton. ...

The Firm is a legal thriller film released in 1993, directed by Sydney Pollack, and starring Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Holly Hunter, Gary Busey, and David Strathairn. The movie is based on the novel, The Firm, by author John Grisham. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 402 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (507 × 755 pixel, file size: 61 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image is of a poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher or the creator of the work depicted. ... Sydney Pollack (born July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana) is an American actor, producer, and director. ... John Davis is an American film producer and founder of Davis Entertainment. ... Sydney Pollack (born July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana) is an American actor, producer, and director. ... Scott Rudin (born July 14, 1958) is an American motion picture producer known not only for his award-winning films, but also for his legendary temper. ... John Ray Grisham Jr. ... David William Rabe (born March 10, 1940 in Dubuque, Iowa) is an American playwright and screenwriter. ... Towne in the 1960 movie Last Woman on Earth Robert Towne (born November 23, 1934) is an American actor, screenwriter and director. ... Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and film producer. ... Tripplehorn 1990s Jeanne Tripplehorn (born June 10, 1963) is an American film actress. ... Gene Hackman (born Eugene Allen Hackman[1] on January 30, 1930) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Edward Allen Ed Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, best known for his performances in The Right Stuff, Apollo 13 and Pollock, among many others. ... Holly Hunter (born March 20, 1958 in Conyers, Georgia) is an Academy Award-winning American actress. ... Holbrook as Twain, 1957. ... David Russell Strathairn (born on January 26, 1949) is an Academy Award-nominated American film and television actor. ... David Grusin (born June 26, 1934 in Littleton, Colorado) is a jazz pianist, composer, and arranger whose works in films and TV have garnered him numerous awards. ... John Seale (born October 5, 1942 in Warwick, Queensland, Australia) is an Australian cinematographer. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 184 days remaining. ... // March 31 - Actor Brandon Lee is accidentally killed during the filming of The Crow. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The legal thriller is a sub-genre of the detective story in which the major characters are lawyers and their employees. ... Thriller films are movies that primarily use action and suspense to engage the audience. ... // March 31 - Actor Brandon Lee is accidentally killed during the filming of The Crow. ... Sydney Pollack (born July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana) is an American actor, producer, and director. ... Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and film producer. ... Tripplehorn 1990s Jeanne Tripplehorn (born June 10, 1963) is an American film actress. ... Gene Hackman (born Eugene Allen Hackman[1] on January 30, 1930) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Edward Allen Ed Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, best known for his performances in The Right Stuff, Apollo 13 and Pollock, among many others. ... Holly Hunter (born March 20, 1958 in Conyers, Georgia) is an Academy Award-winning American actress. ... William Gary Busey (born June 29, 1944) is an Academy Award-nominated American film and stage actor. ... David Russell Strathairn (born on January 26, 1949) is an Academy Award-nominated American film and television actor. ... The Firm is a 1991 legal thriller and the second novel by John Grisham. ... John Ray Grisham Jr. ...

Plot

A new attorney is drawn into a seductive law firm that seems to have many secrets. When he finds out who they are representing and what price has been paid by others who have come across the truth he risks it all to escape with his law license and his life.

The Novel vs. The Film

The film follows the book in most respects, but changes the ending. Mitch doesn't end up in the Caribbean, as in the book; he and his wife simply get into their vehicle and drive away from Memphis.

A more fundamental departure from the book is the motives and manner in which Mitch extricates himself from his predicament. In the book, Mitch is unconcerned about scrupulously following the ethics required by lawyers in the United States. By copying certain information and giving it to the FBI, he acknowledges to himself that he is betraying the lawyer-client privilege. Rather than dwell on this fact, accepting that he will not be allowed to practice law anywhere again, he shrewdly swindles $10 million from the mob law firm, along with receiving the $2 million from the FBI for his cooperation. He then disappears with Abby to the Caribbean.

In the film, apparently in order to preserve the personal integrity of the protagonist, Mitch steals no money from the firm. Instead, he exposes a systematic overbilling scheme by the firm, thus driving a wedge between the mob and its law firm. This alters the character of the Mitch McDeere created by Grisham. Rather than capitalizing on his circumstances for personal gain, as in the book, the movie's McDeere ends up battered and bruised, but with his integrity and professional ethics intact.

McDeere's confession to Abigail about his sexual infidelity was also unique to the film. In the novel, McDeere perpetuates this deception right until the very end. This further characterizes the McDeere of the film as having greater integrity.

List of characters

• Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) – protagonist; recent Harvard Law graduate
• Abigail "Abby" McDeere (Jeanne Tripplehorn) – Mitch's wife
• Avery Tolar (Gene Hackman) – Mitch's mentor at the Firm
• Lamar Quinn (Terry Kinney) – Mitch's friend that works at the Firm
• Oliver Lambert (Hal Holbrook) – senior partner at the Firm
• Tammy Hemphill (Holly Hunter) – Eddie's old secretary, helps Mitch get and copy the files
• Ray McDeere (David Strathairn) – Mitch's brother, in jail for a manslaughter conviction
• William Devasher (Wilford Brimley) – head of security at the Firm
• Eddie Lomax (Gary Busey) – private investigator, friend of Ray McDeere
• Agent Wayne Tarrance (Ed Harris) – the agent in charge of the investigation into the Firm; Mitch's primary contact with the FBI
• The Nordic Man (Tobin Bell) – William Devasher's cold-blooded henchman

Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and film producer. ... Tripplehorn 1990s Jeanne Tripplehorn (born June 10, 1963) is an American film actress. ... Gene Hackman (born Eugene Allen Hackman[1] on January 30, 1930) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Terry Kinney(b. ... Holbrook as Twain, 1957. ... Holly Hunter (born March 20, 1958 in Conyers, Georgia) is an Academy Award-winning American actress. ... David Russell Strathairn (born on January 26, 1949) is an Academy Award-nominated American film and television actor. ... Allen Wilford Brimley (September 27, 1934 - ) is an American character actor. ... William Gary Busey (born June 29, 1944) is an Academy Award-nominated American film and stage actor. ... A private investigator, private detective, PI, or private eye, is a person who undertakes investigations, usually for a private citizen or some other entity not involved with a government or police organization. ... Edward Allen Ed Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, best known for his performances in The Right Stuff, Apollo 13 and Pollock, among many others. ... Tobin Bell Tobin Bell (born August 7, 1942) is an American film and television actor who was born in Queens, New York and raised in Weymouth, Massachusetts. ... Robin Shoots with Sir Guy by Louis Rhead. ...

Trivia

• A scene in which it is revealed that the firm doesn't want its lawyers to have family money, in order to keep them loyal to their only source of income, is shown in some trailers, but isn't in the movie.
• In the novel, Devasher's first name is never revealed.
• Gene Hackman's name did not appear in promotional material for the film. Hackman's contract called for his name to come before the title in all promotional materials (trailers, posters, etc.). Tom Cruise's contract called for his name and his name only to come before the title in all promotional materials. Hackman thus opted to leave his name off all promotional materials altogether, leaving his presence a surprise to most audiences. In the film itself, Hackman's name comes after Cruise's and before the title.
• The scene in which Mitch McDeere meets with the Morolto mob in the Peabody Hotel was not filmed at the Peabody. The scene was filmed in a private apartment in the Shrine Building in downtown Memphis. The occupant of the apartment was paid to allow the studio to move out all of his belongings, and he stayed at the Peabody until the scene was filmed. The Peabody was not used in the scene because the hotel has only an obstructed view of the Mississippi River, whereas the Shrine Building is closer.
• Jason Patric turned down the role of Mitch McDeere in a film that went on to become the third-highest grossing film of 1993.
• The line "They don't run me, and you don't run me", spoken by Mitch, is a reference to the same line in Thief (1981), spoken by Frank (James Caan) in similar circumstances.
• The Mercedes that McDeere is given by the firm, was given to Tom Cruise after filming finished.
• Potential directors included Lili Fini Zanuck and Kevin Reynolds, whose $3 million fee was deemed to be too high.
• One of director Sydney Pollack's original intentions was to have Mitch McDeere have an affair with an older colleague, to be played by Meryl Streep.
• Robin Wright Penn turned down the part later taken by Jeanne Tripplehorn.
• The film took only 23 days to take in $100 million at the U.S. box office.
• Director Cameo: (Sydney Pollack) as the priest at the funeral of one of the associates who died in the Caymans.
• The scene in which Mitch was chased was spoofed in an episode of Seinfeld when Kramer is chased by his Cable Guy.

Roger Ebert, Peter OToole, and Jason Patric at the 2004 Savannah Film Festival. ... // March 31 - Actor Brandon Lee is accidentally killed during the filming of The Crow. ... Thief is a 1981 noir crime drama written and directed by Michael Mann, based on the novel The Home Invaders by Frank Hohimer (the pen name of real-life jewel thief John Seybold). ... James Langston Edmund Caan (born March 26, 1940), commonly known as James Caan, is an American Academy Award, Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated American film, stage and television actor. ... Mercedes may refer to: Things Mercedes-Benz, a German brand of automobiles and trucks Mercedes-Benz (song), by Janis Joplin Mercedes (calculator), an early 20th-century computing device Mercedes College, South Australia Places Mercedes, Buenos Aires, Argentina Mercedes, Paraná, Brazil Mercedes, Camarines Norte, Philippines Mercedes, Eastern Samar, Philippines Mercedes, Texas... Kevin Reynolds refers to: Kevin Reynolds (director) Kevin Reynolds (figure skater) Category: ... Mary Louise Streep, mostly known as Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is a two-time Academy Award-winning, six-time Golden Globe-winning, two-time SAG-winning, Grammy Award-nominated and BAFTA Award-winning American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. ... Robin Virginia Wright Penn (born April 8, 1966) is an American film actress who first became famous on television, playing Kelly Capwell on the soap opera Santa Barbara. ... Tripplehorn 1990s Jeanne Tripplehorn (born June 10, 1963) is an American film actress. ... Sydney Pollack (born July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana) is an American actor, producer, and director. ... This article is about the sitcom. ...

Taglines

• Power can be murder to resist.
• They made him an offer he should have refused.

External links

• The Firm at the Internet Movie Database
• The Firm filming locations at the TheyFilmHere.com