The Client

Name: The Client
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Released: July 20, 1994
Duration: 119 min
Rating: 65
Cast: Brad Renfro, Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones

1994

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Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Ratings

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7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Ratings

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The Client

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. | Release Date: July 20, 1994 | PG-13

Starring: Brad Renfro, Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones

Summary: 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.

Director: Joel Schumacher

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 119 min

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Critic Reviews

Michael Wilmington

Sometimes, it's exciting to watch a movie formula jell on screen-and that's what you can see happening in The Client, the latest, and best, of three successive films adapted from legal thrillers by John Grisham. Read full review

Jay Boyar

The Firm and The Pelican Brief, both of last year, were solid entertainment. Now along comes the movie version of The Client - the best of the Grisham film trilogy. Read full review

Desmond Ryan

In effect, The Client is a clever and pliant variation on the classic Hitchcock situation that puts a kid, instead of an adult, between the authorities and villainous criminals. Read full review

Rene Rodriguez

Owing to a supremely engaging cast, The Client turns out to be stand-up Hollywood entertainment. Grisham's uninspired storyline can't ruin the efforts of two of the industry's best actors at the top of their form. [20 July 1994, p.E2]

Roger Ebert

The setup in The Client is done so well, it deserves a better payoff. Read full review

Hal Hinson

Unfortunately, the film rarely slows long enough for the actors to do anything more than sketch in their characters. On the other hand, the showdowns between Sarandon and Jones are choice; it's a meeting of charismatic equals. Read full review

Jay Carr

The Client is slick, but not much more than the sum of its surfaces. [20 July 1994, p.23]

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User Reviews

Tss5078

Jan 25, 2015

The Sway brothers come from a single parent home, one that is so poor, that they have to be left unsupervised. Often times, they go exploring in the woods behind their trailer, but on this particular day, they run into another person, a man intent on killing himself. When young Mark (BradThe Sway brothers come from a single parent home, one that is so poor, that they have to be left unsupervised. Often times, they go exploring in the woods behind their trailer, but on this particular day, they run into another person, a man intent on killing himself. When young Mark (Brad Renfro) interferes, the man takes him prisoner and before taking his own life, he opens up to the boy about some things he never should have told anyone. Mark calls the police and ultimately lies to them, the way any kid would, but they know it and when the FBI comes into the investigation, the smart twelve year old decides it's time for him to go out and find a lawyer. It took me a long time to watch this film because as a fan of John Grisham, I prefer to read his books before I see his films. As is the case in the Client, a lot of those films are directed by Joel Shumacher, who remains true to the story and produces a tremendous movie. After a nationwide search, Brad Renfro was selected to star in the first role of his brief, but brilliant career. Renfro unfortunately died of a drug overdose fourteen years later, but was well on his way to becoming a superstar. Even in his very first performance, you could see that this kid had what it takes to star in a film like this and really held his own with the all-star cast. Here he's paired with Susan Sarandon, who despite her reputation is often times someone I find unimpressive. She can be fantastic, but rarely seems to fit the roles she's cast in, but not here. As Mark's lawyer, Reggie Love, Sarandon portrays one of her most interesting characters to date and gives a flawless performance. The Client is a story written by one of America's favorite novelists, and what makes Grisham's stories so good is the fact that he is a lawyer, so everything is accurate as well as exciting. Together with a terrific cast, the Client had all the action, twists, and turns a fantastic court room drama should have. This story may have been a little more out there than some of Grisham's other films, nevertheless it is still a film that will hold your interest and keep you on the edge of your seat.… Expand

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Broyax

Oct 31, 2018

Un gamin se retouve témoin du suicide d'un avocat véreux qui lui fait quelque confidence avant de passer l'arme à gauche, puis devient l'attention à l'insu de son plein gré à la fois du FBI et de la Mafia... c'est alors le début d'une histoire à la con puisque le moutard ira quérir l'aideUn gamin se retouve témoin du suicide d'un avocat véreux qui lui fait quelque confidence avant de passer l'arme à gauche, puis devient l'attention à l'insu de son plein gré à la fois du FBI et de la Mafia... c'est alors le début d'une histoire à la con puisque le moutard ira quérir l'aide d'une avocate spécialisée en divorces...

Des fois, on se demande s'ils sont vraiment sérieux ou s'il s'agit d'une plaisanterie d'initiés (une blague entre avocats sans doute) avec ce scénario à la mords-moi-le-noeud sorti d'un Kinder Surprise... Au moins, il se passe des tas de choses et on ne voit pas le temps passer mais que tout cela est invraisemblable, bon enfant et bien grotesque par endroits (les truands sont super débiles !).

En vérité, c'en devient souvent comique, y compris avec la surcouche de guimauve par dessus (le gamin est un cas social, sa mère est à l'ouest, l'avocate est une ancienne alcoolique...) grâce à l'énergie de Susan Sarandon et Tommy Lee Jones (en procureur cynique aux dents longues !). La mise en scène de Schumacher est en tout cas propre et appliquée et l'ensemble reste divertissant... mais en tant que polar, ça reste néanmoins bien trop concon pour être honnête.… Expand

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DawdlingPoet

Nov 28, 2021

This is a crime drama film, which features themes including journalism, confessions and pursuit. It is a dialogue heavy film - there isn't too much in the way of action, so if your looking for special effects and the like then you'll probably be disappointed. The film features a number ofThis is a crime drama film, which features themes including journalism, confessions and pursuit. It is a dialogue heavy film - there isn't too much in the way of action, so if your looking for special effects and the like then you'll probably be disappointed. The film features a number of people with relatively strong southern American accents, so you may or may not find it slightly difficult to follow all the dialogue due to this.

I found myself feeling quite sorry for Mark Sway, for the awkward situation he was in. I thought most of the characters were quite interesting - I liked that he had a female lawyer and that she was prepared to take on the big boys, the system. There are a number of big names present in the cast, with the lawyer Reggie Love being played by Susan Sarandon, Roy Foltrigg, the district attorney, played by Tommy Lee Jones and Anthony LaPaglia playing Barry Muldano. I often think of Susan Sarandon as being quite a sassy, assertive type, which she is in this film, although (if anything) a bit quieter than she is in some other roles. I also thought that Tommy Lee Jones did well in being the big shot lawyer type. Also, Anthony Edwards (known for playing a Dr in ER) plays Clint Von Hooser and the main character, the young boy Mark Sway, is played by Brad Renfro. I believe this was the most successful film Brad appeared in and he has since sadly died of a drug overdose in 2008. His acting seemed very good, playing a scared yet seemingly angry and frustrated young boy.

Content wise, this film contains a scene of implied strong violence, with a gunshot heard but no visual shown. There is a short scene showing a corpse which could be upsetting and small injuries depicted but otherwise little in the way of violence. There are some relatively mild profanities uttered and a few scenes with a strong sense of threat, which could potentially upset or frighten young viewers. The film has been given a 15 rating due to this, although I thought that was perhaps a little strong, a 12 rating may be more applicable due to the lack of strong violence shown for much time but I suppose it wouldn't interest people much below the age of 15 regardless. This is very much a film for those who are keen on interesting plots and character based dramas.

The film does look somewhat dated - it was released in 1994, so thats hardly surprising but its an interesting story for the most part. One or two plot aspects I found myself questioning and there are some cliches (sentimentality being one) but for the most part I enjoyed it and found it quite watchable, with some good performance from Renfro, Sarandon and Jones. Its, on a few levels, about fighting the system but I think thats to be commended really. Its based on a John Grisham novel, one of many film adaptations based on his work. From what I know, his books are mainly set in court rooms, while this one featured surprisingly few courtroom based scenes, although, of course, the legal system is very much the main setting of the film.

Yes I'd recommend this film, as a plot/character driven drama. It does have some cheesy cliche type aspects but its also surprisingly watchable and I enjoyed it for the most part, so I'd recommend it on that basis.… Expand

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