The Firm

The Firm (1993)

  • 75% of critics liked it
    (52 reviews)

  • 61% of users liked it
    (64,532 ratings)

In this drama, based on the best-selling novel by John Grisham, Mitch McDeer (Tom Cruise) is a young man from a poor Southern family who has struggled through Harvard Law School to graduate fifth in his class. Mitch is entertaining offers from major firms in New York and Chicago, but when… More

Play Trailer

R, 2 hr. 34 min.
Directed By
Sydney Pollack
Genres
Mystery & Suspense, Drama
In Theaters
Jun 1, 1993 Wide
On DVD
May 23, 2000
Paramount Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

    Tom Cruise heads a tony cast in a best-seller movie that is firm at the start and infirm by the end.

  • Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

    The Firm amusingly satirizes the New Traditionalist aspirations of today's young urban elite -- not so much the lifestyle itself as the illusion of utter security it represents.

  • Todd McCarthy, Variety

    A smooth adaptation of John Grisham's giant bestseller that is destined to be one of the summer's strong audience pleasers.

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times

    The movie is extremely long (two hours and 34 minutes) and so slow that by the end you feel as if you've been standing up even if you've been sitting down.

  • Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

    The book moved at turbo speed. At two and a half hours, the movie crawls.

Read all 16 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Jeff "


    I was looking forward to seeing this film, and I thought it was going to be an excellent thriller. After viewing it, I thought it was a good thriller at best. Based on John Grisham's bestseller, The Firm is a fairly entertaining thriller which mixes dramatic elements. Tom Cruise… More

  • Conner R


    If there is ever one movie that showcases the hotshot version of Tom Cruise, it's The Firm. I'll admit that I never really saw a whole lot in it when I saw it for the first time, but it's really grown on me over time. Tom Cruise's performance alone should be worth… More

  • Steven C


    Sydney Pollack's "The Firm" is John Grisham 101. This is a crisp, clean legal thriller that hits all the proper points (murder, cat and mouse chases, trips to exotic islands, bugged phone lines, a foreign contract killer, double crosses, the FBI). The film keeps… More

  • Melvin W


    I really enjoyed The Firm. Much of the criticism comes from the fact that it is overlong and boring. For me, the movie was never boring and it was fun watching the plot unfold. A great cast featuring Tom Cruise, Holly Hunter, Gene Hackman, Hal Holbrook, and Ed Harris, along with the… More

  • Dan S


    A pulse-less, predictable, and rather disappointing "thriller" from writer John Grisham and director Sidney Pollack, concerning a young lawyer (Tom Cruise) fresh out of grad school who is recruited by a Memphis firm, only to learn that they might have ties to the mafia and… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Cast

See full cast

Trailers & Clips

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