The Firm (1993)

June 30, 1993 (US) • Drama, Mystery, Thriller • 154m

Overview

Mitch McDeere is a young man with a promising future in Law. About to sit his Bar exam, he is approached by 'The Firm' and made an offer he doesn't refuse. Seduced by the money and gifts showered on him, he is totally oblivious to the more sinister side of his company. Then, two Associates are murdered. The FBI contact him, asking him for information and suddenly his life is ruined. He has a choice - work with the FBI, or stay with the Firm. Either way he will lose his life as he knows it. Mitch figures the only way out is to follow his own plan...

Director

Sydney Pollack

Writers

John Grisham, David Rabe, Robert Towne, David Rayfiel

Top Billed

Tom Cruise

Keywords

blackmail married couple fbi cayman islands memphis, tennessee mafia lawyer death law firm paranoid bar exam marital tensions legal thriller secret tense

Top Billed Cast

Tom Cruise

Mitch McDeere

Jeanne Tripplehorn

Abby McDeere

Gene Hackman

Avery Tolar

Hal Holbrook

Oliver Lambert

Terry Kinney

Lamar Quinn

Wilford Brimley

William Devasher

Ed Harris

Wayne Tarrance

Holly Hunter

Tammy Hemphill

David Strathairn

Ray McDeere

Gary Busey

Eddie Lomax

Steven Hill

F. Denton Voyles

Tobin Bell

The Nordic Man

Barbara Garrick

Kay Quinn

Jerry Hardin

Royce McKnight

Paul Calderon

Thomas Richie

Jerry Weintraub

Sonny Capps

Sullivan Walker

Barry Abanks

Karina Lombard

Young Woman on the Beach

Margo Martindale

Nina Huff

John Beal

Nathan Locke

Dean Norris

The Squat Man

Lou Walker

Frank Mulholland

Debbie Turner

Rental Agent

Tommy Cresswell

Wally Hudson

David A. Kimball

Randall Dunbar

Don Jones

Attorney

Michael Allen

Attorney

Levi Frazier Jr.

Restaurant Waiter

Brian Casey

Telephone Installer

William J. Parham

Minister

Victor Nelson

Cafe Waiter

Richard Ranta

Congressman Billings

Janie Paris

Madge

Frank Crawford

Judge

Bart Whiteman

Dutch

David Dwyer

Prison Guard

Mark Whitman Johnson

FBI Agent

Jerry Chipman

FBI Agent

Jimmy Lackie

Technician

Afemo Omilami

Cotton Truck Driver

Clint Smith

Cotton Truck Driver

Susan Elliott

River Museum Guide

Erin Branham

River Museum Guide

Ed Connelly

Pilot

Joey Anderson

Ruth

Deborah Thomas

Quinns' Maid

Tommy Matthews

Elvis Hemphill

Chris Schadrack

Lawyer Recruiter

Jeffrey Buckner Ford

Lawyer Recruiter

Jonathan Kaplan

Lawyer Recruiter

Rebecca Glenn

Young Woman at Patio Bar

Terri Welles

Woman Dancing with Avery

Greg Goossen

Vietnam Veteran

Jeane Aufdenberg

Car Rental Agent

Bill Booth

Seaplane Pilot

Ollie Nightingale

Restaurant Singer

Teenie Hodges

Restaurant Lead Guitarist

Little Jimmy King

Memphis Street Musician

James White

Singer at Hyatt

Paul Sorvino

Tommy Morolto (uncredited)

Joe Viterelli

Joey Morolto (uncredited)

Andy Armstrong

Bad Beach Man (uncredited)

Ken Axmaker Jr.

Student (uncredited)

Thomas Callahan

Attorney (uncredited)

Doshia Darmane

Girl (uncredited)

Julia Hayes

Girl in Bar (uncredited)

KaiCarra

Juror (uncredited)

Tom McCrory

Associate (uncredited)

Yvonne Sayers

Young Girl (uncredited)

Ron Clinton Smith

Cotton Truck Driver #1 (uncredited)

Scott Sumers

Student (uncredited)

Crew

Sydney Pollack

Director

John Grisham

Novel

David Rabe

Screenplay

Robert Towne

Screenplay

David Rayfiel

Screenplay

Michael Hausman

Unit Production Manager

David McGiffert

First Assistant Director

Carla Corwin

Second Assistant Director

Scott Ferguson

Unit Manager

Morris Flam

Chief Lighting Technician

Robin Alan Knight

First Company Grip

Robin L. Miller

Property Master

Bruce Ericksen

Costume Supervisor

William A. Farley

Key Hair Stylist

Nanette Siegert

Production Coordinator

Anne Rapp

Script Supervisor

Michael Dellheim

Location Manager

Elton MacPherson

Production Accountant

E.W. Bradford

Construction Coordinator

Andy Armstrong

Stunt Coordinator

Ken Estes

Special Effects

Jerry Jackson

Transportation Coordinator

Lauren Beth Strogoff

Publicist

François Duhamel

Still Photographer

Steve Bowerman

Boom Operator

James C. Feng

Assistant Art Director

Steven Curtis Husch

Assistant Set Decoration

Andy Day

Assistant Chief Lighting Technician

Riko Schatke

Second Company Grip

Michael Gastaldo

Assistant Property Master

Marjorie McCown

Assistant Costume Designer

Luke Reichle

Costumer

Debra Zane

Casting Associate

Michael T. Wilson

Assistant Editor

Karl F. Steinkamp

Assistant Editor

Joyce Arrastia

Assistant Editor

Ted Whitfield

Music Editor

J. Paul Huntsman

Supervising Sound Editor

John Haeny

Sound Effects Editor

Myron Nettinga

Sound Effects Editor

Jessica Gallavan

Supervising ADR Editor

Chris Jargo

ADR Editor

Matthew Sawelson

Dialogue Editor

Adam Sawelson

Dialogue Editor

Gary Lewis

Dialogue Editor

Lucy Coldsnow-Smith

Foley Editor

Jeff Rosen

Foley Editor

Carolann Sanchez-Shapiro

Assistant Sound Editor

Carmen Flores De Tanis

Assistant Sound Editor

Jennifer Portman

Assistant Sound Editor

Chris Jenkins

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Doug Hemphill

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

John 'J.R.' Craigmile

Payroll Accountant

David L. Butler

Aerial Camera

Phil Hetos

Color Timer

Theresa Repola Mohammed

Negative Cutter

Phill Norman

Title Designer

Robin Borman-Wizan

Set Supervisor

Lee McLemore

Grip

Jerry G. Henery

Construction Foreman

Mark Fabert

Construction Foreman

Jason White

Extras Casting Assistant

John Davis

Producer

Lindsay Doran

Executive Producer

Michael Hausman

Executive Producer

Sydney Pollack

Producer

Scott Rudin

Producer

Fredric Steinkamp

Editor

William Steinkamp

Editor

David Rubin

Casting

Richard Macdonald

Production Design

John Willett

Art Direction

Casey Hallenbeck

Set Decoration

Ruth Myers

Costume Design

Keith Campbell

Stunt Double

John Seale

Director of Photography

Dave Grusin

Original Music Composer

Mo Henry

Negative Cutter

Cody Frost

Driver

Sunny Johnson

Rigging Grip

Richard Dean

Makeup Artist

Ben Nye Jr.

Makeup Supervisor

Lyndell Quiyou

Hairstylist

Gloria Belz

Assistant Hairstylist

Gloria Belz

Assistant Makeup Artist

Karen Marmer

Post Production Supervisor

Gerry Robert Byrne

Unit Manager

Michael Tadross

Executive In Charge Of Production

Scott Harris

Second Second Assistant Director

Sharleen Bright

Painter

Gerry Robert Byrne

Construction Manager

Tim Dingle

Scenic Artist

Claudia Gilligan Ivanjack

Painter

Yael Haffner

Art Department Coordinator

David Weathers

Set Dresser

Alan Easley

Carpenter

David Eckert

Set Designer

Tommy Gilbert

Set Dresser

Tony Guastella

Leadman

Frank Hendrick

Assistant Art Director

Frank Hendrick

Set Dresser

David Beadle

Dialogue Editor

Jonathan Klein

Foley Editor

David MacMillan

Sound Mixer

Kevin E. Patterson

Cableman

Mark Smith

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Steve Wolf

Special Effects

Andy Armstrong

Stunts

Keith Campbell

Stunts

Dennis Fitzgerald

Stunts

Chuck Jeffreys

Stunts

Raliegh Wilson

Stunts

Brian W. Armstrong

First Assistant Camera

David Brink

Camera Loader

Chuck Brown

Dolly Grip

Robert Bruce

Electrician

James Callanan

Grip

Bobby Mancuso

Second Assistant Camera

Pete Romano

Underwater Camera

Steve Spallone

Electrician

Mark Van Loon

Camera Operator

Mark Van Loon

Steadicam Operator

John G. Velez

Rigging Gaffer

Darryl Wilson

Electrician

Michael DiIeso

Grip

Tim Driscoll

Grip

John T. Martin

Best Boy Grip

Paul Wilkowsky

Grip

Kim Davis-Wagner

Extras Casting

Jo Doster

Location Casting

Barbara Harris

ADR Voice Casting

David Page

Costumer

Robin Borman-Wizan

Wardrobe Master

Stephanie Antosca

Location Assistant

Randy Ostrow

Location Manager

Peggy Pridemore

Location Manager

Daniel Strol

Location Manager

Charley Armstrong

Location Scout

Billy A. Fox

Second Unit Location Manager

Joel Sill

Music Consultant

Dave Grusin

Music Producer

Dave Grusin

Musician

Richard A. Davis

Transportation Captain

Dennis W. Milliken

Picture Car Coordinator

Reviews

Wuchak

⭐ 9/10

May 24, 2018

When paradise turns into nightmare

RELEASED IN 1993 and directed by Sydney Pollack based on John Grisham’s novel, "The Firm” is a crime drama/thriller starring Tom Cruise as a top Harvard grad lawyer who desperately wants to leave behind his working-class origins and takes a high-paying job at a firm in Memphis. He and his wife (Jeanne Tripplehorn) are ecstatic in their affluent new world until clues mount up that the firm has a sinister side… read the rest.

Filipe Manuel Neto

⭐ 9/10

December 10, 2022

**An excellent film, full of tension and suspense.**

In my country there is a popular adage that probably also has an equivalent in other countries and that says “there is no beauty without a flaw”, that is, if something is too good, it must be wrong. And despite the excellent education and academic evaluations, the lawyer of this film seems not to know this simple truth.

Based on a novel by John Grisham, the script follows Mitch, a young lawyer who has just been hired by a large and important law firm in Memphis, Tennessee. The job is irresistible: a high salary, several perks, a car and paid trips, everything a young yuppie and his wife could want. What he doesn't know is that his new bosses are heavily financed by mafia groups to whom they provide protection and legal advice, and that lawyers who seek to leave the firm end up mysteriously dying. When he finds out, he will have to decide what to do: either maintain his loyalty to the firm or collaborate with the FBI and frame his colleagues.

The film has an excellent suspense that works wonderfully, and keeps us hooked until the end. The direction, in charge of the excellent Sydney Pollak, is really good and there is a certain similarity between this film and “Eyes Wide Shut”, another intense suspense film in which Cruise and Pollak work together again. And I have no doubt that Alfred Hitchcock's masterwork also had its influence on the way Pollak conceived his film. The script has many twists and turns and may demand some attention from the audience, but I guarantee that this will not be a problem if the spectator allows himself to be involved and absorbed by the suspense and tension that are gradually imposed.

I'm not a fan of Cruise, but I recognize that he is a solid and sympathetic protagonist, making the character someone for whom we can have a certain empathy, oscillating between naivety and wit. There are a good handful of well done action scenes that the actor was more than cut out for. Gene Hackman, in turn, gives life to a mature, bohemian lawyer who seems to be more interested in traveling and swimming in the Caribbean than in working with his clients. However, he was also a sympathetic presence, and I really hoped that his character would get away with it somehow. Jeanne Tripplehorn doesn't seem to have much to do, and I thought, at first, that she would just be the protagonist's shy and fragile wife. However, the script gives us a twist that refocuses the character and gives her a much more active and intervening role than we could guess in the first half-hour length. One can also mention the good performances of Ed Harris, Steven Hill and Wilford Brimley, in roles that are tougher and closer to an action movie. Holly Hunter also appears here, but in such a minimal character that it seems inconceivable to me that she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Technically, the film has many qualities that we can point out: the cinematography is good and gives us an elegant look and good colors, so that the film does not look as old and dull as other films of the same year. The settings are excellent, in particular the offices and the paradise hotel in the Cayman Islands, where some beautiful and very colorful underwater scenes were filmed. The film passes through Memphis, Washington and other places, always with a careful eye on the choice of filming locations and the best framing. We don't have a show of visual and special effects, but the little that is done works very well. What definitely deserves a mention is the excellent soundtrack, based massively on the piano, and which is really effective in the task of accentuating the environment, deepening the suspense and gradually making things more exciting.

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CinemaSerf

⭐ 7/10

May 3, 2026

Before he has even passed his bar exam, aspiring lawyer "Mitch" (Tom Cruise) is offered an hefty salary to take a job with a prestigious law firm headed up by "Lambert" (Hal Holbrook). Needless to say, he and wife "Abigail" (Jeanne Tripplehorn) are delighted with his new Mercedes and their new home, but is this simply too good to be true? Well shortly after he joins, two of his colleagues die in what appears to be a boating accident, then he is approached by the FBI and given some shocking news about his new employers and their involvement with the Chicago mob. Using something between the carrot and the stick, they and the Department of Justice (Ed Harris) invite "Mitch" to help them prove what they have hitherto been unable to establish. Naturally he is scared, but he keeps his head well enough to inform his bosses of this approach, though not of it's intention, and that is when "Avery" (Gene Hackman) takes a more intimate interest in the young man and his family affairs and warns him of the dangers of becoming trapped in the intricate web of slandering government chicanery - something the company's outwardly benign enforcer "Devasher" (Wilford Brimley) points out all too clearly. Now damned if he does and damned if he doesn't, "Mitch" has to take his wife into his confidence and then to try to play both sides off the other long enough for them to escape and still see the truth told. It's perhaps a bit long and some of the sub-plots do clutter up the main theme, but Cruise and the on-form Hackman - whose faux-trustworthy grin was always his most effective acting tool - work well together as the cat and mouse game gathers pace and the dynamics chop and change. There is also a bit of social commentary contained here too, as the ambitious young man is as much driven by a need to escape his humble roots as he is to prove himself a skillful advocate and the story also shines a little light on the murkier world of the corporate legals where money laundering, peddling and extortion can be easily hidden from those who don't what they ought to be looking for in the first place. For me, this is the beginning of the end of the Cruise purple patch; before he began to take more control of his own productions and lose much of his charm, and with a solid ensemble around both him and Hackman, this is a superior drama that doesn't quite follow the path you might have expected.

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