Review of The Firm (1993) by Charlie E — 28 Dec 2018

Just so you know, this is a tame legal thriller and I feel like it's R rating is due to the amount of profanity in the film, not the amount of violence. I like the concept of the movie a lot. I think the idea of a law firm being tied to a Chicago crime syndicate is pretty original and intriguing, however, I feel like there was a lot of unnecessary exposition throughout the film that, as a result, slowed down the pacing.

I was surprised of the lack of violence in the movie. There's only one gory part of the film and it's not even that bad. The performances given by Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Holly Hunter, Gene Hackman and Ed Harris are quite solid and help tell the story well, but I did feel myself getting bored at times throughout the film's 2hr34m runtime.

There is lots of buildup to the action and in some cases, a little too much. I feel like if some of the scenes in the first half hour were trimmed down or even deleted so we could get to the action quicker, it would be way more enjoyable.

All in all, I like the story and I like the actors, but there were just way too many moments that just didn't keep the story moving quick enough for my liking.