Customer Reviews

The Client (Widescreen/Full Screen)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In his first film, Brad Renfro (Apt Pupil) walks away with THE CLIENT. His performance carries the entire movie, and he is a jewel. From his southern accent to his bullheaded obstination, Renfro creates a portrait of a child looking for love and leadership. He and his little brother witness the suicide of a gangland lawyer, who before dying tells Renfro where the body of a murdered senator is hidden. Tommy Lee Jones as a slick Federal attorney decides that Renfro knows the location and wants the boy to talk. Bright Renfro decides he needs a lawyer and ends up with Susan Sarandon, in her fourth Oscar nominated performance. Of course, since the little boy has become a media darling, the bad guys want him too. The expected chase begins, but not before some touching and exciting sequences occur.
Director Joel Schumacher keeps things moving nicely and elicits strong performances from a rather starstudded cast: Mary Louise Parker as Renfro's mom; Ossie Davis as a no nonsense judge; Micole Mercurio as Sarandon's nice mama; Anthony LaPaglia as the slimy murderer; Anthony Edwards as Sarandon's assistant, and Bradley Whitford as the yuppie lawyer. Ultimately though, it's the power of Renfro and Sarandon's performances that catapult this movie into its stratosphere. Sarandon and Renfros scenes together sparkle and their final scene is a real tearjerker.
Grisham liked this adaptation and he should: it's a very good movie.

The film adaptation of author John Grisham's legal thriller, The Client marks the first time that director Joel Shumacher, and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman brought his work to the big screen.

Mark Sway (Brad Renfro), a trailer park kid, witnesses the suicide of a mob lawyer. He getst more than he bargained for though, he is pursued by both the authorities, led by 'Reverend' Roy Foltrigg (Tommy Lee Jones) and mob thugs out to kill him for what he may know. In an attempt to protect himself, the 11 year-old hires Reggie Love (Susan Sarandon), feisty female attorney who takes his case, trying her best to protect him.

While I never read the novel, the film is very good, led by a standout cast. Now considered a heart throb, a young Renfro gives an amazing performance, holding his own with Sarandon (who, herself was nominated for an Oscar here) and Jones. Not an easy thing to do. The dynamics of Love and Mark's relationship is very "real" and is the reason it works Jones can be a bit hammy at times, but I'm not sure if that's more or less a trait of the character than anything else. Shumacher seems confortable in Grisham's world. So much so that he returned to adapt A Time To Kill, which is even better still.

The DVD lacks any subtantial extras. Like most Grisham adaptions on disc, all you relly get are a few production notes, and the theatrical trailer. Viewers can choose to watch the film in either the full-screen, or widescreen formats. I think some more extras would have made things a bit better though. Special edition anyone.

Recommended, especially, for the work of Renfro and Sarandon.

You gotta hand it to John Grisham: Nobody has the various lawyer cliches down pat as well as him - in fact, it almost seems as if he invented or at least, reinvented many of them. As in most of his thrillers, we get a whole handful in "The Client": the slimy mafia lawyer, the power-hungry politician-to-be, the self-aggrandizing ambulance-chaser, the grandfatherly judge and, of course, the motherly family law practitioner who turned to legal practice after overcoming a few troubles of her own. I think that leaves only the greedy corporate attorney, his cousin the corrupt judge and their perpetual antagonists, the starving public interest lawyer and the inquisitive student prodigy unrepresented here; but still, not a bad collection for a single thriller, even by Grisham. (And that doesn't even include the count of dumb and/or malicious cops, slick tabloid journalists and ruthless mobsters running around in this story.) But never mind: "The Client" is one of John Grisham's best-ever novels, and this movie surpasses many another big-screen adaptation of his books by several leagues. For Grisham at the top of his game is also an excellent storyteller, and in the hands of director Joel Schumacher his tale of beleaguered eleven-year-old Mark Sway who gets in trouble by becoming the reluctant last confidant of suicidal defense attorney Jerome "Romey" Clifford comes to life in spot-on and truly gripping fashion.

Although not even a teenager yet, Mark (Brad Renfro) is as tough as they come - a Memphis trailer park kid who gets most of his education on life's really important aspects from TV, has already helped his mom (Mary-Louise Parker) get rid of the wife-beating guy he now calls his "ex-father," and since then has been the man in the house, taking care of his eight-year-old brother Ricky whenever their mother is at work (i.e., most of the time). So Mark doesn't scare easily; and even if he really is afraid, he'd rather drop dead than admit it. But with both the mob *and* the feds on his trail - the former out to kill him before he can share the dirty little secret they suspect Romey has spilled before blowing out his brains, the latter hell-bent on making him share that very secret - even Mark has to face the fact that he is in way over his head ... and yes, he's scared, too; and not just a little. Worse, his brother is out cold, in hospital being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder because watching Romey's suicide was more than his delicate eight-year-old soul could take, and their mother is in hospital with Ricky on the doctor's orders because Ricky might need her when he wakes up. (Consequently she's also out of a job, because her sweat-shop employer doesn't take kindly to this sort of family emergency). Reluctantly, Mark therefore concludes that he needs an attorney. And in short order, he lands on the doorstep of Regina "Reggie" Love (Susan Sarandon), middle-aged but only a few years out of law school, through which she put herself after her husband left her for a younger woman, not without depriving her of their children's custody and branding her an unfit mother. But what starts as a hesitant relationship at best on Mark's side soon turns out his one stroke of luck, because Reggie is probably the only lawyer in town not afraid to take on even powerful U.S. Attorney "Reverend" Roy Foltrigg (Tommy Lee Jones) and the FBI, and ultimately willing to put her own job at risk for her client.

While condensing some of its elements, the movie's screenplay follows Grisham's novel fairly closely, taking part of its dialogue straight from the book. Yet, "The Client" lives not only from John Grisham's gripping story but also - and primarily - from its characters and outstanding cast, including the ever-reliable J.T. Walsh (FBI Agent McThune), William H. Macy (Ricky's doctor), Anthony Edwards (Reggie's assistant Clint), Ossie Davis (Judge Roosevelt) and Walter Olkewicz ("Romey" Clifford). Unquestioningly most memorable, however, is the quintet at the movie's center. Brad Renfro was selected by Schumacher for his first-ever screen appearance as Mark because he had a somewhat similar background as the story's hero and thus, an intuitive understanding that, along with his innate toughness, ultimately proved more convincing than the acting skills of more experienced child actors; and indeed, he so compellingly carries his part that he deservedly garnered a 1995 Young Artists Award. Susan Sarandon earned another Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Reggie, who actually listens to her clients and makes sure even those of their desires that may seem trivial to others are taken care of; such as Dianne Sway's wish for a walk-in closet. (Sarandon's Academy-Award nomination was her fourth after "Atlantic City," "Thelma & Louise" and "Lorenzo's Oil;" but although she had to wait yet another year to finally score an Oscar with "Dead Man Walking," "The Client" at least won her a BAFTA Award). Tommy Lee Jones plays the bible-quoting Foltrigg with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek and thus, although occasionally terrifying, makes him a more complete and almost even likeable character; much more so than he is in Grisham's novel. Mary-Louise Parker's Dianne Sway truly brings to life the young besieged trailer park mom desperately trying to get a grip on her life, and Anthony LaPaglia finally is simultaneously frightening and unintentionally funny as the slick but not overly bright mob killer Barry "The Blade" Muldanno, the source of Clifford's (and consequently everybody else's) problems.

So, watch this for the outstanding performances of the five central characters as well as the fine ensemble cast, for one of John Grisham's most gripping yarns, and for Joel Schumacher's excellent editing and sense of place. This may not be a major milestone in movie history (except regarding Brad Renfro's career of course), but it's without question one of the best thrillers of the past 15 years and easily recommended on that basis alone.

This movie starts out as a very good suspense drama, but becomes a not so, what would be expected, in the last half of the movie. The kid seems to outsmart all these intelligent lawyers and FBI agents, and mafia. Reminds me of a Home Alone movie. A movie you might watch once and take it to the DVD exchange shop.

I have always been a John Grisham fan, so even the movies will get my top vote. This movie depicts what you should and should not do when you witness and/or are told about a crime, and the pain you could endure if the wrong people find out you know about this crime. This is a wonderful plot with great acting from Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, etc. I recommend that if you haven't watched this movie yet, then give it a try. You'll like it.

The first time I read a John Grisham book, I was disappointed; it read as if it had been written for the express purpose of being turned into a screenplay, rather than for those of us who like a good book and appreciate good writing. And indeed, most of his books have become movies - and I haven't liked most of them any better than I liked that first book (well, except for The Pelican Brief).
The Client, however, is really, really good. How could it NOT be, with Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones? It's a whirlwind thriller based on a secret held by an 11yo kid who knows the identity of a Mob murderer. The poor kid knows he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't, and he's caught between 3 powerful forced: the federal prosecutor, the murdered, and his attorney (Sarandon), who risks not just her career but also her life when she goes right down to the wire for her client.
Super flick.

This movie is a big blockbuster.This is a very well planned movie which could make you very much like the character Mark in it.I have not read the novel but I'm not disappointed because an action story is not very good in a novel and believe me,this is an an action movie.
The only flaw in it is the lack of courtroom drama or else I'm sure it would win a few oscar awards!

A sterling cast headed by Oscar - nominated Susan Sarandon makes this slick thriller the adaptation of a John Grisham bestseller. Mark Sway (Brad Renfro) 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 (Anthony LaPaglia) is soon on Mark's trail, and in desperation, he arrives at the office of recovering alcoholic lawyer Reggie Love (Sarandon). With the mob after them, and a ruthless federal attorney Roy Foltrig (Tommy Lee Jones) 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. Director Joel Schumacher helmed another Grisham adaptation, A Time To Kill, in 1996.

I love this movie.....it's the only one that has made me cry, not even titanic, or a beautiful mind. I love the plot the direction, photography, everything about it is so awesome.....my favorite partis the judge scene & when they talk about Led Zeppelin (my favorite band) I definitely consider this a two thumbs up production

Brad Renfro stars as a street smart Louisiana boy who tangles with a member of the mob as that man is about to commit suicide. The mobster reveals the whereabouts of a body everyone is searching for, and after his suicide, everyone comes to believe that the boy knows the truth - he has both the Mob and the FBI after him for it. The always great Tommy Lee Jones leads the way for the FBI, while it's up to small time lawyer Susan Sarandon to defend and protect the boy, her client. Sarandon is terrific as the emotionally wounded lawyer trying to keep everyone at bay. Renfro is extremely good as the kid/client, completely believable and self-possessed. The story moves along well, being highly entertaining without ever becoming too improbable as films like this sometimes do. At the heart of the film is the relationship between attorney and client, very well written and played. The Client is the kind of film to watch on a rainy/snowy day when a movie is the best option.