The Client (1994)

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Pressured by an ambitious district attorney after witnessing the suicide of a mob lawyer, a bratty adolescent seeks legal advise from a lawyer who lost custody of her children during her divorce in this legal thriller based on a novel by John Grisham. Susan Sarandon won the BAFTA Best Actress award for the film and received an Oscar nomination for her turn as the divorced lawyer. It is a better performance then one might expect as she does a great job quoting the law when facing up to the DA and fighting all legal avenues available when trying to get the boy out of having to take the stand in court; it is not all maternal instincts, though these do factor into play too. With this in mind, the film grows far too sentimental for its own good in its final few scenes. Brad Renfro's performance as the boy works also against the film; he is so insolent and rude that he is nearly impossible to warm to. The film's most grating performance though comes from Anthony LaPaglia as the rather brainless mafia goon out to get Renfro. The film is admittedly encapsulating though in the scenes where Renfro and LaPaglia manage to keep their mouths shut. There are lots of thrills and chills throughout, whether it be Renfro noticing the mafia tattoo on the hand of a seemingly kind stranger, or Renfro given a scare in a darkened elevator. Tommy Lee Jones also does what he can with his publicity-loving DA character.

A sterling cast headed by Oscar-nominated Susan Sarandon makes this slick thriller one of the better adaptations of a John Grisham bestseller,The Client.The film stars Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones and Brad Renfro together with Mary-Louise Parker,Anthony LaPaglia,Anthony Edwards and Ossie Davis.It was based on Grisham's bestselling novel about a street-wise kid, Mark Sway, sees the suicide of Jerome Clifford, a prominent Louisiana lawyer, whose current client is Barry 'The Blade' Muldano, a Mafia hit-man who killed Senator Boyd Boyette.It was written by Robert Getchell; together with Akiva Goldsman and it was directed by Joel Schumacher,both of whom worked in another Grisham adaptation, A Time To Kill.Mark Sway witnesses the suicide of a Mafia lawyer, who confesses that the Mob was behind the murder of a U.S. senator. Mark's brother is traumatized into a coma by the incident; gangster Barry Muldano is soon on Mark's trail, and in desperation, he arrives at the office of recovering alcoholic lawyer Reggie Love. With the Mob after them, and a ruthless federal attorney trying to force Mark to reveal what he knows, Love battles to guarantee the safety of her client and his family. The relationship between Reggie Love and Mark Sway is the center of the film, adding considerable character development to plot's routine elements.This legal thriller isn't a masterpiece of suspense but it has its moments and is capable of providing entertainment.Susan Sarandon, the emotional center of the narrative, received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for playing a recovered alcoholic lawyer who interacts with the boy as a surrogate mother and a lawyer that holds the viewer's interest on the main characters of the story. Although the film was formulaic, it still is worth the view for it has a good story to tell.

Thriller about a young boy Mark Sway (Renfro) who witnesses the suicide of a man (Olkewicz) with ties to the mob. The man decides to spill certain details about the mob before his suicide, sucking Mark into the crossfire of a mob murder. The kid must hire his own lawyer (Sarandon) to protect his rights, since district attorney (Tommy Lee Jones) is fixated on taking down the mob and won't stop at anything--even willing to put the safety of Mark at risk. Very '90s, very Schumacher, and very Grisham. Hard to know what to feel for Tommy Lee Jones' character, and it's even more confusing as to why Romey didn't just blow his brains out sooner with the gun right there in the car! A lot of holes at the beginning of the film, and the plot neither fills them or makes up for them. You won't gain anything from watching this so-called "mystery-thriller". Am I really supposed to take LaPaglia serious?** (out of four)

Based on the novel of the same name by John Grisham, 'The Client', directed by Joel Schumacher, in an interesting thriller, that also packs in memorable performances by it's lead-cast.'The Client' tells the story of a eleven-year old boy, who, witnesses the suicide of a lawyer whose client is in the mob, and a female attorney, who, tries to protect him. Joel Schumacher's body of work is a mixed bag. However, 'The Client', can surely rank amongst his better works. He has handled a couple of sequences with ease. However, I would like to state, that, the writing loses pace in it's final 30-minutes. And thus, the desired impact gets distracted. If it had been better or should I say more crisper, this flick would've been a classic affair! Tony Pierce-Roberts's Cinematography is good. Editing is fine.Performance-Wise: As told before, the lead casts pack in memorable performances. Susan Sarandon is excellent as the female lawyer. Brad Renfro does a sincere job. Tommy Lee Jones is superb as the calculative U.S. Attorney. Mary-Louise Parker is good. J. T. Walsh is effective.On the whole, 'The Cilent' is A Good Film in all respects. Definitely worth a watch!