Introduction: 100 words
In the eyes of an action film buff, the book-turned-legal thriller The Firm would be
an ordeal to watch. With its running time of 2 hours and 34 minutes of endless
dialogue and few and far between action scenes (which is a necessity in any
thriller film), the average moviegoer might find The Firm boring to watch. In my
case, however, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. I was beholden to an engaging
film that drew the line between being moral and ethical and was displayed by the
main character Mitch McDeere so ably played by the great Tom Cruise himself.
Body: 205 words
The Firm follows the story of McDeere, a young promising lawyer who is caught in
a dilemma of being loyal to his law firm Bendin, Lambert, & Locke (BL&L) and the
FBI that is pursuing a case against it. McDeere initially lived a luxurious life while
practicing his profession in BL&L but would eventually make a sinister detour
following the murders of two of The Firm’s associates that would unravel its
nefarious side. The FBI was pursuing a case against The Firm and had attempted
to “enlist” McDeere as being its snitch in the hopes of shutting it down and
sending its senior officials to jail. It is at this point that it started to get really
interesting for me. My thoughts were provoked into thinking of the two choices
McDeere would have to make: Would he choose to stick with his lawyer’s oath
and remain loyal to the Firm, or would he choose to cooperate with the FBI for
the greater good? With these two choices that were presented to McDeere, I
wanted to find out the circumstances that would push for McDeere to make his
choice. This buildup of McDeere’s character alone made me very interested and
had me watching until the end.
Conclusion: 227 words
I think this movie presented the difference between ethics and morality. As a
lawyer, McDeere is not supposed to divulge attorney–client confidentiality as it
violates a lawyer’s professional ethics, but owing to the immoral acts of his law
firm itself, he chose what he perceived as moral and did what he felt was right
and that is by turning on the Firm. He began to surreptitiously provide files as well
as information about BL&L, albeit for a price. A total amount of $750,000 made its
way to his Swiss Bank Account and his brother Ray was released from prison
(although the FBI attempted to deceive the McDeere’s by dragging him back
which failed). The film itself is riveting and although there were quite a number of
dragging scenes, I felt these were necessary as they helped build up the plot.
Though the action was scarce compared to a typical Tom Cruise film, its
psychological aspect kept me glued to my screen. Throughout the film, I had
hoped that the tables would eventually be overturned on BL&L, and being a
movie with a good ending, it eventually did. I had wanted a few scenes wherein I
would see BL&L being completely shut down and its conniving senior officials held
on trial or locked up in jail but even these absences did little in leaving me
wanting more.
Insights: 139 words
The Firm featured an ensemble cast led by Tom Cruise, and included Jeanne
Tripplehorm of Basic Instinct Fame as well as veteran and premiere actor Gene
Hackman. I was particularly impressed by the stellar performance of Cruise of
being the ambitious young lawyer Mitch who got caught in the middle of his strict
adherence to his profession and the moral aspect of turning on his law firm.
Tripplehorn was also effective in playing a sensitive and smart wife Abby to
Cruise’s character as well as Hackman who put in a laudable performance of being
McDeere’s mentor. I loved how the film played the morality aspect and its
storyline that led to the finale. Overall, Sydney Polack ably directed this film that
although not much-action packed, was still enough to turn John Grisham's
bestselling 1990 novel into an engaging thriller.