•Tom Cruise is known for playing men who find themselves in increasingly dangerous situations, from dangling off a skyscraper in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol to running for his life in War of the Worlds. But some of his most acclaimed work came long before he was hanging off airplanes and outrunning explosions.
The Firm, directed by Sydney Pollack and based on John Grisham’s bestselling 1991 novel, is a legal thriller that finds Cruise playing a young lawyer whose dream job quickly turns into a waking nightmare. The film is now streaming on Paramount Plus.
There’s just one problem: the firm has secrets it would rather keep buried. After learning that several other attorneys have died under mysterious circumstances, Mitch begins to suspect his employers are involved in something far more sinister than questionable legal practices. He finds himself caught between the FBI, which wants his help bringing the firm down, and powerful people who have made clear that getting out isn’t an option.
The Firm is most effective in how it slowly reveals to Mitch the mistake he’s made over the first two acts. This isn’t a case of a lawyer stumbling into a dangerous situation and immediately knowing how to get out of it. Mitch is ambitious, a little arrogant, and convinced that his education and intelligence will carry him through almost anything.
Cruise plays him with just enough confidence to make his eventual panic believable, and the film gets plenty of mileage out of watching that confidence slowly disappear.
The Cost of Compromise
While Cruise steals most of the limelight, Gene Hackman’s Avery Tolar — the veteran attorney assigned to mentor Mitch — is equally spellbinding. Hackman’s initial friendly demeanor conceals a man who has learned to live with some deeply uncomfortable compromises.
A prime example occurs during their business trip to the Cayman Islands, where Avery sits with Mitch at an outdoor resort bar. Beneath the warm tropical sunlight and easygoing banter, Avery drops his polished facade to offer a chillingly frank warning about the inescapable grip of the firm.
Pollack understands that the scariest thing about Mitch’s predicament isn’t necessarily the threat of violence, but the fact that the firm has embedded itself into every corner of his life. His house, his marriage, his career, and his financial future are all tied to an organization that has no intention of letting him walk away scot-free.
Based on Grisham’s novel, the movie streamlines some of the book’s more complicated legal machinations but retains the central appeal of watching an ordinary professional discover that the system he trusted is working against him. The supporting cast helps too, with Ed Harris, Hal Holbrook, and Wilford Brimley adding to the sense that Mitch is surrounded by people who know considerably more than they’re willing to admit.
At two and a half hours, The Firm is hardly a quick watch, and some of its plotting gets tangled in the details. But Cruise’s performance and Pollack’s steady direction keep the story moving, even when the legal maneuvering threatens to overwhelm the suspense.
The film captures a particular moment in Cruise’s career, when he was still proving himself as a dramatic actor capable of carrying a sprawling Hollywood thriller without relying on the physical spectacle that would later define his biggest blockbusters.
The Firm is streaming on Paramount Plus. It’s also available on Peacock and HBO Max through the end of October.
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