The Client (1994)

Director:

Joel Schumacher

Writers (WGA):

John Grisham (novel)
Akiva Goldsman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 July 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Mystery | Drama

Tagline:

A District Attorney Out For A Conviction. A New Lawyer Out Of Her League. A Young Boy Who Knew Too Much.

Plot:

A young boy who witnessed the suicide of a mafia lawyer hires an attorney to protect him when the district attorney tries to use him to take down a mob family.

Plot Keywords:

Lawyer | Mafia | Suicide | Senator | District Attorney

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Susan Sarandon	...	Regina "Reggie" Love
Tommy Lee Jones	...	'Reverend' Roy Foltrigg
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Dianne Sway
Anthony LaPaglia	...	Barry 'The Blade' Muldano
J.T. Walsh	...	Jason McThune
Anthony Edwards	...	Clint Von Hooser
Brad Renfro	...	Mark Sway
Will Patton	...	Sergeant Hardy
Bradley Whitford	...	Thomas Fink
Anthony Heald	...	Larry Trumann
Kim Coates	...	Paul Gronke
Kimberly Scott	...	Doreen
David Speck	...	Ricky Sway
William H. Macy	...	Dr. Greenway
Ossie Davis	...	Judge Harry Roosevelt

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for a child in jeopardy and brief language.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 (original rating) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 (re-rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Peru:14 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Clinton, Mississippi, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

This was Brad Renfro's film debut.

Goofs:

Continuity: Reggie's hand (not) on her hip when talking to Mark.

Quotes:

Roy: What's the Cloak and Dagger all about Reggie, you know you can trust us?
Reggie: You three come here alone?
Roy: Uh huh.
Reggie: That the truth?
Roy: 'course it is!
Reggie: [smiles] Well then, why don't you have one of them
[points to the agents]
Reggie: just trot out to one of those cars that aren't in the parkin' lot and get a pen and paper from one of those agents that aren't out there?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "American Dad!: Home Adrone (#5.3)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Bourbon Street Parade

Stupid premise for a plot

I want to address some of the major holes in the plot, so if you haven't seen the movie yet you may want to skip this review.

Why would the mob assume that this lawyer, who was about to commit suicide, would be telling the kid anything regarding the dead body? That's a pretty big assumption to make. OK, so assuming that they did guess right, i.e. the kid now knows everything, why do they think scaring him will keep him from talking? Wouldn't it be more final just to bump him off in the elevator when they have the perfect opportunity? But no, let's threaten him only, still giving him the chance to spill his guts to the authorities.

But the little jerk can't just tell what he knows, and let the authorities sort it out. He and his stupid lawyer decide that they must go and see the body for themselves, to be sure that the suicide committing lawyer wasn't lying in the first place. Yeah, right. That makes perfect sense. Let's break into the dead lawyers boathouse, and see if the rotting corpse is there, then maybe he'll testify.