THE CLIENT. Directed by Joel Schumacher; written by Akiva Goldsman and Robert Getchell; produced by Arnon Milchan and Steven Reuther for Warner Bros. Starring Brad Renfro, Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. Rated PG-13 (mild profanity, violent situations)
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The Client has all the earmarks of the earlier John Grisham books-turned-movies (The Firm and Pelican Brief—-complicated but fast-moving and absorbing storyline, lots of suspense, clearly-defined good and bad guys.
But it also has more appealing protagonists. They even generate some downright human warmth in between the chases and legal maneuvering.
After sneaking into the woods with his little brother to smoke stolen cigarettes, 11-year-old Mark (Renfro) accidentally gets involved with a New Orleans lawyer who has come to the woods to end his life. As a reward for his compassion (he tries to prevent the suicide) Mark gets enmeshed in a frightening web of evil, desperation and politics.
With both the mob and the FBI after him, he falls in with low-rent lawyer Reggie Love (Sarandon), a piece of luck beyond any he's encountered so far in his short, hard life. At first attorney and client are somewhat at odds, but they eventually learn to trust each other and work together, making a formidable team.
Renfro does a remarkable job in The Client, especially considering that he's never acted before. He conveys Mark's toughness, independence, intelligence and vulnerability almost perfectly. And on top of that, he's a really cute kid.
Sarandon has played roles like Reggie often before, but she's so good at it we can't object. She's strong, clever and resilient, but we only gradually realize just how strong she is, as we learn how much pain she's had to overcome. And, of course, she's a knockout.
Jones, likewise, doesn't disappoint with a role that, again, is similar to others in his career. He plays Foltrigg, a self-promoting federal prosecutor who is as smart and tough as he is ambitious. Foltrigg is working on the case of a kidnapped (and probably murdered) Senator and his first real break is Mark's encounter with the New Orleans lawyer.
Jones is at his best as Foltrigg gets more and more frustrated, seeing that he's met his match in the team of Mark and Reggie.
A little too confusing at the beginning, and with a couple of minor occasions where the story runs away with itself (and from believability) The Client is still first-rate suspense entertainment.
August 10, 1994