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The Pelican Brief

year 1993decade 90sdirector Alan J. Pakula

141 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Julia Roberts Darby Shaw
Denzel Washington Gray Grantham
Sam Shepard Thomas Callahan
John Heard Gavin Verheek
Tony Goldwyn Fletcher Coal
James B. Sikking Denton Voyles
William Atherton Bob Gminski
Robert Culp President
Stanley Tucci Khamel
Hume Cronyn Justice Rosenberg
John Lithgow Smith Keen
Anthony Heald Marty Velmano
Cynthia Nixon Alice Stark
Jake Weber Charles Morgan (Garcia)

The Pelican Brief | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennesseyhost Amanda Dobbins
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Producer credits not yet identified.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Verheek murder/Riverwalk sequence; classroom scene; all Shepard scenes

In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:48Read transcript
  • The two judicial murders open the candidates; the first setting is corrected from a nursing home to a private home with a nurse.
  • Darby researches the common ground between the justices and presents her theory to Callahan.
  • Callahan’s car explodes after his remark that Michelle takes his breath away.
  • Verheek’s murder and Khamel’s subsequent attempt on Darby form a favored sequence.
  • Darby meets Gray in New York and explains that everyone she told about the brief is dead.
  • The newsroom scenes reunite Washington and Lithgow.
  • Coal warns the president in the limousine that the brief will not disappear.
  • Retrieving the safe-deposit box leads to the parking-garage chase.
  • The president finds Coal watching in the camera room.
  • The farewell hug and Gray’s television interview conclude the story.
  • The final meeting with Voyles feels like the most triumphant moment.
  • The Riverwalk assassination is a final choice, especially the crowd scattering after the shooting.
  • Callahan’s classroom scene is another final choice for its distinctly 1990s atmosphere.
  • All of Shepard’s scenes together are the remaining final choice.

What’s Aged the Best?

Shepard; Sneller routine; disguises; chemistry; Goldwyn; newspapers; secret room; New Orleans; following a cab; names; Pakula; conspiracy theorists; jogging clothes; FBI pressure; barking dog

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:42:38Read transcript
  • Sam Shepard’s presence and romantic appeal remain strong.
  • The covert Mr. Sneller contact routine remains appealing.
  • Darby’s pigtails, sunglasses, wig and Knicks cap make her disguises memorable.
  • Roberts and Shepard have strong chemistry despite the problematic professor-student relationship.
  • Tony Goldwyn is effective as an unpleasant schemer.
  • A newspaper-centered thriller remains appealing.
  • The secret room used to film the boss is a memorable feature.
  • New Orleans is an excellent filming location.
  • The request to follow another taxi is a classic pleasure.
  • Darby Shaw and Gray Grantham are admired character names.
  • Pakula’s later career revival restores his standing as a thriller director, though Tony Scott is preferred by one response for the 1990s.
  • Self-publishing conspiracy theorists are a joking affirmative selection.
  • Jogging outfits and shorter men’s shorts have returned to fashion.
  • Presidential pressure on the FBI recalls modern disputes over investigative independence.
  • A dog suddenly barking at an already endangered character remains an effective thriller device.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

More assassins; Roberts miscast; possible CIA conspiracy; awkward Washington jogging

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:16Read transcript
  • Washington’s jogging looks awkward and effortful despite his athleticism.
  • Mattiece should be able to hire more and better assassins, especially after the replacement loses to bouncers.
  • Roberts is considered miscast and insufficiently allowed to use her charisma; Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Jason Leigh are suggested alternatives.
  • The unresolved CIA presence inspires a speculative theory that it engineered the plot and used Mattiece and Darby as decoys.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Scandal response, disputed; runtime; Culp casting, disputed; dated media; Callahan; frightened whisper; Morgan search

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:26Read transcript
  • Diminished public capacity for scandal is proposed, but others argue the killings would still dominate coverage.
  • The 141-minute runtime and repeated surveillance shots are excessive.
  • Robert Culp’s presidential casting divides opinion: more prominent alternatives are proposed, while his television persona is defended as appropriate.
  • Floppy disks and expandable files mark the film’s dated technology.
  • Porn theaters have largely disappeared.
  • Callahan’s conduct as a professor is criticized.
  • Darby’s sustained frightened whisper becomes a one-note performance choice.
  • The Curtis Morgan search takes too long and its intermediate steps feel far-fetched.

Apex Mountain

Tulane, qualified; John Grisham

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:17Read transcript
  • Tulane receives a qualified affirmative nomination.
  • Grisham’s ability to sell unwritten ideas as films supports an affirmative selection.
  • Conspiracy movies are rejected.
  • The return-from-the-plane farewell hug loses to The Bodyguard.
  • Edwin Newman is proposed, but his SNL hosting appearance offers a competing peak.
  • A later Washington peak is preferred; the title is unclear in the transcript.
  • Roberts’s Pretty Woman period is preferred, with Notting Hill and Erin Brockovich another strong stretch.
  • Adult theaters are considered, with a later Nicholson theater scene offered as the counterexample.
  • John Heard’s Big, Home Alone and After Hours roles displace this film.

Is This Movie Better With…?

J. T. Walsh as Mattiece

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:29:38Read transcript
  • J. T. Walsh as Mattiece is the selected improvement.
  • Wayne Jenkins and Byron Mayo inspire additional comic impersonations.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Desktop computer; original brief; Callahan’s car; Howard T-shirt; Knicks cap

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:25Read transcript
  • The editor’s green-and-black-screen desktop computer is one choice.
  • The original brief is another choice.
  • Callahan’s car is requested despite the usual resistance to car selections.
  • Washington’s Howard University T-shirt and Darby’s Knicks cap are further choices; Mets is corrected to Knicks.

Who Won the Movie?

John Grisham (two choices); Denzel Washington; conspiracies

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:33Read transcript
  • John Grisham receives two explicit final choices after a provisional Shepard suggestion.
  • Denzel Washington is chosen for crossing into self-sufficient top-tier stardom.
  • Conspiracies are chosen as the enduringly rich subject of the film.
Podcast choices
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John Grisham
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John Grisham
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Denzel Washington
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Conspiracies