The Client (1994)

Director: Joel Schumacher

Writers: John Grisham, Akiva Goldsman, Robert Getchell

Composer: Howard Shore

Starring: Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, Mary-Louise Parker, Anthony LaPaglia, J.T. Walsh, Anthony Edwards, Brad Renfro, Will Patton, Bradley Whitford, Anthony Heald, Kim Coates, Kimberly Scott, David Speck, William H. Macy, Ossie Davis, Micole Mercurio, William Sanderson, Dan Castellaneta, John Diehl

More info: IMDB

Tagline: A District Attorney Out For A Conviction. A New Lawyer Out Of Her League. A Young Boy Who Knew Too Much.

Plot: A young boy who witnessed the suicide of a mafia lawyer hires an attorney to protect him when the district attorney tries to use him to take down a mob family.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I'm kind of surprised at how much I enjoyed this.  I really dig the cast.  It's a lot of fun watching Tommy Lee Jones be a likable bastard.  I thought the kid (Renfro) did a pretty good job, another surprise.  He seemed to behave in a way that a kid from a severely broken family would but, and this is a big BUT, I didn't find it realistic that he would be in control for the entire film and make things happen the way that they did.  Maybe if he were older.  I'm really surprised that Reggie (Sarandon) didn't put the brakes on that little fucker early on and get that sumbitch to tell her what the hell was going on.  But then we wouldn't have much of a movie if she had.  Despite that, it's still a good thriller with some great performances, a moody score, and good direction from Schumacher, a director I'm liking more and more. He's made some really good films.  The Warner Bros. snapecase DVD has a nice anamorphic widescreen print and the sole extra is the theatrical trailer (also anamorphic widescreen).