The Pelican Brief

"Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead."

1993 2h 21m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 1,842

ThrillerCrimeDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.

“Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead.”

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Cast

Julia Roberts
Darby Shaw
Denzel Washington
Gray Grantham
Sam Shepard
Thomas Callahan
John Heard
Gavin Vereek
Tony Goldwyn
Fletcher Coal
James B. Sikking
Denton Voyles
William Atherton
Bob Gminski
Robert Culp
The President

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Alan J. Pakula
Writers: Alan J. Pakula
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

33 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Alan J. Pakula, shot by Stephen Goldblatt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tom Rolf shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington and Sam Shepard carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0107798 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Alan J. Pakula directs. Stephen Goldblatt behind the camera. James Horner scores. Tom Rolf cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.
233 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Alan J. Pakula, shot by Stephen Goldblatt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Tom Rolf shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington and Sam Shepard carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead.".
8IMDB entry: tt0107798 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "based on novel or book", "judge", "professor", "mission of murder".
10Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt
Original score: James Horner
Editing: Tom Rolf
Production design: Philip Rosenberg
Costume design: Albert Wolsky
Sound: Ron Bochar
Stunt coordinator: Doug Coleman
Runtime: 141 min · 2h 21m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $45,000,000
Box office: $195,268,056
Return: 434% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Pelican Brief (1993)

Also by

Alan J. Pakula

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What people are saying

Wuchak2018-05-25
★ 6/10
Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington team-up in this crime thriller RELEASED IN 1993 and directed by Alan J. Pakula from John Grisham’s novel, "The Pelican Brief” is a political drama/thriller about a law student (Julia Roberts) who researches the murders of two supreme court justices and shares her theory with her college professor (Sam Shepard) who, in turn, gives it to an FBI friend on a lark. The brief hits a nerve because people start dying one-by-one. Denzel Washington plays a DC reporter who teams-up with the student while Robert Culp appears as the president. While I prefer “The Firm” (1993), which was also written by Grisham, this one is along the same lines, albeit with a totally different story (naturally). “Pelican” has more action, but the plot/characters aren’t quite as interesting IMHO. Still, if you liked one, you’ll probably appreciate the other. THE MOVIE RUNS 2 hours, 21 minutes and was shot in New Orleans and Washington DC/Maryland. ADDITIONAL CAST: John Heard plays an FBI agent, Stanley Tucci a hitman and John Lithgow an editor. GRADE: B/B-

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