Mitch McDeere is a young man with a promising future in Law. About to sit his Bar exam, he is approached by 'The Firm' and made an offer he doesn't refuse. Seduced by the money and gifts showered on him, he is totally oblivious to the more sinister side of his company. Then, two Associates are murdered. The FBI contact him, asking him for information and suddenly his life is ruined. He has a choice - work with the FBI, or stay with the Firm. Either way he will lose his life as he knows it. Mitch figures the only way out is to follow his own plan...Written by
Mark Harding <mah@imdb.com>
Holly Hunter is on screen for a total of 5 minutes and 59 seconds; one the of shortest performances ever nominated for an Oscar. She is in twenty scenes, for an average of eighteen seconds per scene. See more »
Goofs
The law firm inundates the new hire with every possible benefit, lavish starting salary, house, car etc. But then they don't pay for their move from Boston to Memphis? A U-Haul hooked behind a beat-up Supra? With a job like this, one would expect that a moving company would be hired to do a door-to-door move including packing the whole household, while they would fly first class. See more »
Quotes
The Nordic Man:
Why are you asking questions about dead lawyers?
Eddie Lomax:
What dead lawyers?
The Nordic Man:
[shoots Eddie on the shoulder]
Who hired you to do that?
Eddie Lomax:
Ok... Ok. Just let me think... His name was... Julio Iglesias.
[shoots the other thug in the leg]
See more »
Crazy Credits
Since laundering drug money is a major theme, this appears: "The producers wish to thank the Cayman Islands Government...for their cooperation in the making of this film and acknowledge that the Cayman Islands have strict antidrug and money laundering laws which are rigorously enforced." See more »
Alternate Versions
In the scene when Mitch is at the Cayman Islands, and is talking to his new client Sonny Capps about tax representation, there is a line that had a strange overdubbing. Mitch's line "You'd feel like you were fucked with a dick big enough for an elephant to feel it" was re-shot for television. In the TV version, the line was replaced with "You'd feel like you had a prostate exam with a beach umbrella to feel it." See more »
I wanted to get a copy of the screenplay to compare the movie with the dialog and directions, but initially received the FIRST draft by David Rabe. I finally got the shooting script later. All I can say is that it ended with Mc Deere blowing away all the partners in a restaurant with an AK-47. It really made me appreciate the re-write by David Rayfiel and Robert Towne. I have watched this movie many times and enjoy the suspense, romance, and Grusin's solo piano score, which always blows me away. But the one thing that impressed me most with multiple viewing, is how Gene Hackman really makes the movie work. His portrayal of this corrupt, but incredably likeable character is the one thread that holds the movie together for me and goes down as one of his most memorable acting performances.
32 of 42 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
I wanted to get a copy of the screenplay to compare the movie with the dialog and directions, but initially received the FIRST draft by David Rabe. I finally got the shooting script later. All I can say is that it ended with Mc Deere blowing away all the partners in a restaurant with an AK-47. It really made me appreciate the re-write by David Rayfiel and Robert Towne. I have watched this movie many times and enjoy the suspense, romance, and Grusin's solo piano score, which always blows me away. But the one thing that impressed me most with multiple viewing, is how Gene Hackman really makes the movie work. His portrayal of this corrupt, but incredably likeable character is the one thread that holds the movie together for me and goes down as one of his most memorable acting performances.