John Grisham receives two explicit final choices after a provisional Shepard suggestion.
Denzel Washington is chosen for crossing into self-sufficient top-tier stardom. — Sean Fennessey
Conspiracies are chosen as the enduringly rich subject of the film.

Podcast choices

The Pelican Brief The Rewatchables December 12, 2023

Tulane, qualified; John Grisham

In the discussion (9)

Approx. transcript time · 01:19:17Read transcript

Tulane receives a qualified affirmative nomination. — Bill Simmons
Grisham’s ability to sell unwritten ideas as films supports an affirmative selection. — Bill Simmons
Conspiracy movies are rejected. — Bill Simmons
The return-from-the-plane farewell hug loses to The Bodyguard. — Bill Simmons
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.

The Firm The Rewatchables December 11, 2018

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 01:07:32Read transcript

Tom Cruise is not at Apex Mountain here.
Wilford Brimley is argued for, but the others put his peak in the Cocoon and The Natural era, since this is against-type Brimley rather than the quintessence.
Jeanne Tripplehorn is a yes: Basic Instinct, then Tom Cruise's wife in a huge hit, then Waterworld; Big Love is considered but rejected.
Holly Hunter is a yes for most, with this and The Piano out the same year, though one host prefers Broadcast News, which prompts a tangent on that film and William Hurt.
John Grisham is a yes: three of the top six bestseller spots, a Tom Cruise movie and seven more coming, although he has published a book every year since 1991; The Pelican Brief is called rough.

The Firm The Rewatchables December 11, 2018

Jason Patric turned down Mitch; Meryl Streep was wanted for a gender-swapped Avery until Grisham objected; Robin Wright turned down Abby; Halle Berry auditioned for the woman on the beach

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 00:48:49Read transcript

Jason Patric turned down Mitch two years before Speed 2; Cruise was probably Plan B and expensive, the biggest star in the world at the time.
Gene Hackman joined late because the producers wanted to gender-swap Avery and cast Meryl Streep until John Grisham objected; one host thinks it might be a better movie without the beach scene, but another says Hackman is why the film makes sense, and Streep never played that older, divorced, sexualized, secretly bad character.
Robin Wright turned down Abby, as she seemed to for every movie, and Halle Berry auditioned for the woman on the beach, which one host would have preferred.

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