The Firm (R, 1993)
common sense media says
Too-long Grisham thriller is full of adult themes.
parents & educators say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this thriller based on a John Grisham novel contains considerable discussion of violence, corruption, and sexism. Women are treated as objects to either have affairs with or to bear their husbands' children. Mitch cheats on his wife. Several characters die, three of them on-screen and two of them by the supposed good-guy.
Violence:
A lot of off-screen violence: talk of two lawyers being killed on a boat that inexplicably explodes, talk of suicide and death. Some thugs repeatedly wound a man by shooting off a part of his ear and then grazing his shoulder before killing him on screen. Mitch kills one man by dropping heavy weights on him and beats another man to death.
Sex:
Mitch makes out with his wife, talks about cooking food naked, and has sex with another woman on a beach. Nothing graphic is shown other than some finger sucking and the unbuttoning of clothes. Avery flirts with and tries to seduce Abby.
Language:
Considerable salty language, including "son of a bitch," "hell," "f--k," "motherf--ker," "c--ksucker," and "s--t."
Consumerism:
We see quite a few Mercedes, and there's mention of Red Stripe beer and Hilton hotels.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
Several characters drink to the point of being drunk. Avery drinks so much he passes out. Lamar drinks beer and smokes after he realizes that his coworkers have been killed. Abby drinks when she's unhappy with her husband.
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raphael's ...
teen, 17 years old
teen, 17 years old
The Firm
"The Firm", which is apparently based on the book of the same name which I have never read, has an great story. At least, that's what made me interested in seeing it in the first place. Add that to fact that I love thrillers, and renting this movie was kind of a no brainer. Like I said, the plot is very good. It might move a bit slowly at times, but there is always some bit of information or plot point just out of reach that keeps you watching. The acting was all excellent as well. "The Firm" even managed to pack in a positive message or two about the importance of keeping someone's trust and fighting for those you love. However, there is some violence (shooting and punching), and quite a bit of sexual content. Besides some sensual dialouge, there is blatant talk about adultery, and a key character in the film is shown doing it (we don't see any nudity). A few times people are shown unbuttoning each other's clothes. The language is pretty harsh, too, with uses of f---, s---, and more. Finally, a lot of characters drink to the point of drunkeness. Overall, "The Firm" is a very cool movie, and I reccomend it if you enjoy thrillers and can handle the long running time. But it's definitely for mature teens and up.
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davyborn
teen, 17 years old
teen, 17 years old
Exhausting, extremely slow paced legal thriller may not interest younger teens
Featuring especially strong performances by Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman in particular, The Firm is still mostly just a very long legal thriller with sparsely exciting situations and heavy on protocol and the ear gratingly annoying (after 153 minutes, that is) all jazz music soundtrack that dominates the movie. Still, the R rating is appropriate considering the very infrequent but fairly brutal violence, some occasional sexual content, and profanity which gets quiet strong and frequent as the movie goes on. It is entertaining and interesting enough, but the book deserved a better adaptation.
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