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Twenty-five years ago, Hollywood was enjoying a pipeline to success as clean and unobstructed as any.
Sydney Pollack helmedThe Firm, starring Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, and an Oscar-nominated Holly Hunter.
That same year, Alan J. Pakula directedThe Pelican Brief, with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington.
But first hed direct Susan Sarandon to a surprise Oscar nomination in 1994sThe Client.
Think about how Jacksons YES, they deserved to die, and I hope they burn in hell!
line inA Time to Killbecame a part of the Sam Jackson persona.
Think about howThe Firmcame to define Tom Cruises precision-running era, or howThe Pelican Briefperfected the parking-garage chase scene.
But the poor legal thriller remains untended.
InThe Firm, the concept was billable hours.
InA Time to Kill, its change of venue.
Once youve got the concept down, the movies tend to be about chase scenes and tense cross-examinations.
With Grisham, the Mob is very often involved, or else the government acting like the Mob.
By the end, the two characters we care most about arrive at an understanding about each other.
It aint Tolstoy, but it isdeeplyenjoyable.
Joel Schumacher was chosen to helm the endeavor.
His career is dotted with disasters likeThe Phantom of the Operaand the Jim Carrey numerology dudThe Number 23.
Hes the man who put nipples on the Bat-suit forBatman & Robin.
Walsh, and Bradley WhitfordandMary Louise Parker (years before they would play tempestuous loversD.C.
operators onThe West Wing).
Sarandons Oscar nomination forThe Client,however, was perceived to be a fairly ridiculous reach by the Academy.
Oscar observers received Sarandons nomination with all the begrudgment of a late-stage Meryl StreepFlorence Foster Jenkinsnod.
Yet looking back on the performance 25 years later, this dismissive attitude feels …off.
Its fascinating that, with all those nods, Adams has yet to arrive at her time.
Just last year, Adams was nominated forVice, a polarizing movie but a Best Picture nominee nevertheless.
She lost to Regina King for the unnominatedIf Beale Street Could Talk.
It was a career spent making movies that mainstream audiences saw and loved and remembered.
