Glenn Farr, whose work on The Right Stuff won the 1984 Academy Award for editing, died May 25 at Cedars Sinai from complications from a brain tumor, according to several friends’ Facebook posts. He was 77.
Farr brought his touch to Philip Kaufman’s The Right Stuff. He shared the win with fellow editors Lisa Fruchtman, Tom Rolf, Stephen A. Rotter and Douglas Stewart.
“This is truly a beautiful, wonderful moment for each one of us,” Farr said in his Oscar acceptance speech. “We are privileged to be a part of it and the experience will long live in our hearts. We must thank our marvelous, beautiful director — we love you Phil Kaufman — for his leadership and dedication and the vision he gave to us.” Farr also offered a thank you to all assistant and contributing editors that worked on the film.
Farr’s editing resume included Garry Marshall’s Nothing in Common,...
Farr brought his touch to Philip Kaufman’s The Right Stuff. He shared the win with fellow editors Lisa Fruchtman, Tom Rolf, Stephen A. Rotter and Douglas Stewart.
“This is truly a beautiful, wonderful moment for each one of us,” Farr said in his Oscar acceptance speech. “We are privileged to be a part of it and the experience will long live in our hearts. We must thank our marvelous, beautiful director — we love you Phil Kaufman — for his leadership and dedication and the vision he gave to us.” Farr also offered a thank you to all assistant and contributing editors that worked on the film.
Farr’s editing resume included Garry Marshall’s Nothing in Common,...
- 6/1/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Glenn Farr, the Oscar-winning editor known for his work on “The Right Stuff” and “Commando,” has died. He was 77.
Farr died on May 25 due to complications from a brain tumor, said his friend and fellow editor Janice Hampton.
In 1984, Farr won the Academy Award for editing with Philip Kaufman’s “The Right Stuff,” a historical drama film based on Tom Wolfe’s 1979 novel of the same name. Farr shared the win with fellow editors Lisa Fruchtman, Tom Rolf, Stephen A. Rotter and Douglas Stewart.
“This is truly a beautiful, wonderful moment for each one of us,” Farr said in his Oscar acceptance speech. “We are privileged to be a part of it and the experience will long live in our hearts. We must thank our marvelous, beautiful director — we love you Phil Kaufman — for his leadership and dedication and the vision he gave to us.” Farr also offered a thank...
Farr died on May 25 due to complications from a brain tumor, said his friend and fellow editor Janice Hampton.
In 1984, Farr won the Academy Award for editing with Philip Kaufman’s “The Right Stuff,” a historical drama film based on Tom Wolfe’s 1979 novel of the same name. Farr shared the win with fellow editors Lisa Fruchtman, Tom Rolf, Stephen A. Rotter and Douglas Stewart.
“This is truly a beautiful, wonderful moment for each one of us,” Farr said in his Oscar acceptance speech. “We are privileged to be a part of it and the experience will long live in our hearts. We must thank our marvelous, beautiful director — we love you Phil Kaufman — for his leadership and dedication and the vision he gave to us.” Farr also offered a thank...
- 6/1/2023
- by Sophia Scorziello
- Variety Film + TV
The conflicted Paul Schrader works out some hellacious personal issues, in a feverish tale of a Michigan Calvinist searching for his daughter in the porn jungle of L.A.. A disturbingly dark modern-day cross between The Searchers and Masque of the Red Death, it was meant to be even darker. Hardcore Blu-ray Twilight Time 1979 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date August, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95 Starring George C. Scott, Peter Boyle, Season Hubley, Dick Sargent, Leonard Gaines, David Nichols. Cinematography Michael Chapman Production Designer Paul Sylbert Art Direction Edwin O'Donovan Film Editor Tom Rolf Original Music Jack Nitzsche Produced by Buzz Feitshans, John Milius Written and Directed by Paul Schrader
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I'm not sure that the word 'controversial' has the same meaning it once had. There has to be a consensus on what is 'normal' in society for some topics to become edgy. These...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I'm not sure that the word 'controversial' has the same meaning it once had. There has to be a consensus on what is 'normal' in society for some topics to become edgy. These...
- 9/2/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
All the winners from Sunday’s 87th Academy Awards.
Show host Harris signs off with a chirpy, “Buenos noches!”
Sean Penn walks on. It’s time for the big one. Best film. Will it be Birdman or Boyhood? It’s Birdman! The movie ends the night tied with The Grand Budapest Hotel on four Oscars. Inarritu, referring to his pal Alfonso Cuaron who enjoyed success with Gravity at last year’s show, says, “Two Mexicans in a row. That’s suspicious, I guess.” Slightly more seriously, Agi also calls on his fellow Mexicans to help build a strong future for his beloved country. Wow, a good night for Birdman and a surprisingly barren one for Boyhood. Pirates indeed, Ethan Hawke, but glorious pirates.
And now Matthew McConaughey saunters on stage to announce best actress. Julianne Moore, five times a nominee at the Oscars is the favourite. Will she get it this time for Still Alice? Yes she’s got...
Show host Harris signs off with a chirpy, “Buenos noches!”
Sean Penn walks on. It’s time for the big one. Best film. Will it be Birdman or Boyhood? It’s Birdman! The movie ends the night tied with The Grand Budapest Hotel on four Oscars. Inarritu, referring to his pal Alfonso Cuaron who enjoyed success with Gravity at last year’s show, says, “Two Mexicans in a row. That’s suspicious, I guess.” Slightly more seriously, Agi also calls on his fellow Mexicans to help build a strong future for his beloved country. Wow, a good night for Birdman and a surprisingly barren one for Boyhood. Pirates indeed, Ethan Hawke, but glorious pirates.
And now Matthew McConaughey saunters on stage to announce best actress. Julianne Moore, five times a nominee at the Oscars is the favourite. Will she get it this time for Still Alice? Yes she’s got...
- 2/22/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
"Tom Rolf, who won an Oscar for his work editing the 1983 space epic, The Right Stuff, has died aged 83," reports the BBC. Carolyn Giardina for the Hollywood Reporter: "The respected editor of more than 40 films—including Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), Michael Mann's Heat (1995) and Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium (2002)—received the American Cinema Editors' Career Achievement Award in 2003. He won an Ace Eddie trophy for John Badham's WarGames (1983) and received additional Ace nominations for Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff (1983) and Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer (1998), as well as a BAFTA nom for Taxi Driver." » - David Hudson...
- 7/18/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
"Tom Rolf, who won an Oscar for his work editing the 1983 space epic, The Right Stuff, has died aged 83," reports the BBC. Carolyn Giardina for the Hollywood Reporter: "The respected editor of more than 40 films—including Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), Michael Mann's Heat (1995) and Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium (2002)—received the American Cinema Editors' Career Achievement Award in 2003. He won an Ace Eddie trophy for John Badham's WarGames (1983) and received additional Ace nominations for Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff (1983) and Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer (1998), as well as a BAFTA nom for Taxi Driver." » - David Hudson...
- 7/18/2014
- Keyframe
Tom Rolf, the Academy Award-winning editor of The Right Stuff and dozens of other films, died June 14. He was 83. The respected editor of more than 40 films — including Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), Michael Mann's Heat (1995) and Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium (2002) — received the American Cinema Editors' Career Achievement Award in 2003. He won an Ace Eddie trophy for John Badham's WarGames (1983) and received additional Ace nominations for Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff (1983) and Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer (1998), as well as a BAFTA nom for Taxi Driver. Photos Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2014 Rolf's impressive credits also include The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973),
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- 7/16/2014
- by Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Frankfurt, Germany -- Academy Award-winning VFX supervisor John Gaeta turned the tables on film critics Monday at the Edit Filmmakers Festival here.
"Critics have so many conflicts of interests," he said. "They feel that they are power brokers. I tend to put aside established critics. Now I am sampling bloggers who are not put in a high position. That I feel is the true reaction."
Gaeta said he believes that his latest VFX work, "Speed Racer," was "a vastly misunderstood film from the beginning of its creation."
He described the look, which he called "photo anime," and he detailed early tests on the complex work.
"Our objective was to take the purity of pop art and create something original," he said, adding that another part of the aim was to reach a "new generation of filmgoers -- younger folks who are growing up with a wider array of media where they get their entertainment.
"Critics have so many conflicts of interests," he said. "They feel that they are power brokers. I tend to put aside established critics. Now I am sampling bloggers who are not put in a high position. That I feel is the true reaction."
Gaeta said he believes that his latest VFX work, "Speed Racer," was "a vastly misunderstood film from the beginning of its creation."
He described the look, which he called "photo anime," and he detailed early tests on the complex work.
"Our objective was to take the purity of pop art and create something original," he said, adding that another part of the aim was to reach a "new generation of filmgoers -- younger folks who are growing up with a wider array of media where they get their entertainment.
- 9/29/2008
- by By Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Editor Anne V.Coates received Festival honors; the highest honor awarded at the Edit Filmmakers Festival. The event was held last night at the opening gala at the Cinestar Metropolis theatre in Frankfurt.
A capacity crowd of 650 walked the red carpet and filled the theatre to honor Coates, who is best known for her exemplary work in Lawrence of Arabia.
In the evenings other highlight, cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, a longtime collaborator with Federico Fellini, was honored with the first tribute Award from Imago, The European Association of Cinematographers.
Tom Rolf the editor of Oscar Winning The right Stuff presented the award to Anne Coates, who was accompanied by her son, writer director Anthony Hickox.
“Anne is one of the greatest...
(more...)...
A capacity crowd of 650 walked the red carpet and filled the theatre to honor Coates, who is best known for her exemplary work in Lawrence of Arabia.
In the evenings other highlight, cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, a longtime collaborator with Federico Fellini, was honored with the first tribute Award from Imago, The European Association of Cinematographers.
Tom Rolf the editor of Oscar Winning The right Stuff presented the award to Anne Coates, who was accompanied by her son, writer director Anthony Hickox.
“Anne is one of the greatest...
(more...)...
- 9/29/2008
- by John
- ReelSuave.com
Frankfurt, Germany -- Oscar-winning editor Anne V. Coates received Festival Honors -- the highest honor awarded at the Edit Filmmakers Festival -- Sunday at the event's opening gala at the Cinestar Metropolis theater in Frankfurt.
A capacity crowd of 650 walked the red carpet and filled the theater to honor Coates, who is perhaps best known for "Lawrence of Arabia."
In the evening's other highlight, cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, a longtime collaborator with Federico Fellini, was honored with the first Tribute Award from Imago, the European Association of Cinematographers.
Tom Rolf, an Oscar-winning editor ("The Right Stuff") and past recipient of Festival Honors, presented the award to Coates, who was accompanied by her son, writer-director Anthony Hickox.
"Anne is one of the great editors of all time," Rolf said. "Anne cares about taking gifted performances and making them the focus of the story."
The program included a clip reel of Coates' body of work,...
A capacity crowd of 650 walked the red carpet and filled the theater to honor Coates, who is perhaps best known for "Lawrence of Arabia."
In the evening's other highlight, cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, a longtime collaborator with Federico Fellini, was honored with the first Tribute Award from Imago, the European Association of Cinematographers.
Tom Rolf, an Oscar-winning editor ("The Right Stuff") and past recipient of Festival Honors, presented the award to Coates, who was accompanied by her son, writer-director Anthony Hickox.
"Anne is one of the great editors of all time," Rolf said. "Anne cares about taking gifted performances and making them the focus of the story."
The program included a clip reel of Coates' body of work,...
- 9/28/2008
- by By Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dimension Films' sci-fi movie "Equilibrium" borrows from so many literary and cinematic sources that this future world feels absolutely Deja Vu. Lacking in originality and featuring cost-conscious models and effects that cannot compete with those in holiday blockbusters, this lame Christmas entry will have to attract young male audiences with action sequences involving guns, swords and futuristic martial arts.
Writer-director Kurt Wimmer's dystopian society, where all human feeling is illegal, owes its biggest debt to Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451". But one can spot lifts from George Orwell and Aldous Huxley along with images from filmmakers ranging from Fritz Lang to King Vidor in his depiction of a conformist society kept in check through regular doses of a mood-suppressant drug self-administered with needle guns.
The new religion in this postapocalyptic world is peace at any price. Its "clerics" stamp out any expression of human emotion with deadly force. For some reason, it has been decided that art, music and literature are what provokes unwanted passions. (My God, just think how many lives have been lost through poetry alone!) Thus, cleric John Preston (Christian Bale), the government's top killer, ruthlessly burns all books and paintings he finds in the "nethers," a rotting urban landscape that surrounds the soulless city of Libria. When his partner shows signs of emotion, John kills him. But his new partner, Brandt (Taye Diggs), is an even fiercer believer in the system.
The highly predictable then happens: John accidentally misses his drug dose. Sure enough, he starts to "feel." First, he feels certain urges for a "sense offender" played by Emily Watson. She has wild, curly hair and red lipstick, so you know she has ditched her drugs. Then John gets misty-eyed over a puppy, a gimmick that was old before talkies came in. John de-cides to join the rebels and assassinate the supreme ruler, called Father. No one has ever seen Father, but he appears larger than life on TV monitors all over the metropolis. Yes, Wimmer lifts from "The Wizard of Oz", too.
A film as poorly thought out as "Equilibrium" makes you realize how beautifully imagined and densely observed the future was in "Minority Report". Nothing makes sense in Libria. If all reading material is banned, how do its citizens achieve their literacy? If all emotions are suppressed by drugs, what accounts for the constant displays of anger? If all passion is doused, how do marriage and propagation of the species manage to continue? Most importantly, if all violent urges have been suppressed, then why is the movie so violent?
The clerics undergo religious study, which apparently means bullet avoidance. Thus, in any gunbattle, the clerics can slip between the paths of bullets, no matter how numerous, while slaughtering multitudes. These balletic fights provide the film's slick stunt action, neatly choreographed by Jim Vickers.
Bale all too easily plays the zombie enforcer but never finds a convincing way to play his emerging emotions. Diggs' moral righteousness strikes the appropriate cord. Watson gives dash and vigor to a small role, but what is she even doing in this movie?
The models for the antiseptic city look all too familiar to sci-fi fans. Up-close interiors are mostly drywall wonders that perforate easily. Dion Beebe's cinematography is dark and moody in the nethers but changes to sunny and sterile in Libria's city center. That must be what is meant by equilibrium.
EQUILIBRIUM
Dimension Films
Blue Tulip Prods.
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Kurt Wimmer
Producer: Jan de Bont, Lucas Foster
Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Andrew Rona
Director of photography: Dion Beebe
Production designer: Wolf Kroeger
Music: Klaus Bedelt
Costume designer: Joseph Porro
Co-producer: Sue Baden-Powell
Editors: Tom Rolf, William Yeh
Cast:
John Preston: Christian Bale
Brandt: Taye Diggs
Mary O'Brian: Emily Watson
Master Cleric: Angus MacFayden
Partridge: Sean Bean
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Writer-director Kurt Wimmer's dystopian society, where all human feeling is illegal, owes its biggest debt to Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451". But one can spot lifts from George Orwell and Aldous Huxley along with images from filmmakers ranging from Fritz Lang to King Vidor in his depiction of a conformist society kept in check through regular doses of a mood-suppressant drug self-administered with needle guns.
The new religion in this postapocalyptic world is peace at any price. Its "clerics" stamp out any expression of human emotion with deadly force. For some reason, it has been decided that art, music and literature are what provokes unwanted passions. (My God, just think how many lives have been lost through poetry alone!) Thus, cleric John Preston (Christian Bale), the government's top killer, ruthlessly burns all books and paintings he finds in the "nethers," a rotting urban landscape that surrounds the soulless city of Libria. When his partner shows signs of emotion, John kills him. But his new partner, Brandt (Taye Diggs), is an even fiercer believer in the system.
The highly predictable then happens: John accidentally misses his drug dose. Sure enough, he starts to "feel." First, he feels certain urges for a "sense offender" played by Emily Watson. She has wild, curly hair and red lipstick, so you know she has ditched her drugs. Then John gets misty-eyed over a puppy, a gimmick that was old before talkies came in. John de-cides to join the rebels and assassinate the supreme ruler, called Father. No one has ever seen Father, but he appears larger than life on TV monitors all over the metropolis. Yes, Wimmer lifts from "The Wizard of Oz", too.
A film as poorly thought out as "Equilibrium" makes you realize how beautifully imagined and densely observed the future was in "Minority Report". Nothing makes sense in Libria. If all reading material is banned, how do its citizens achieve their literacy? If all emotions are suppressed by drugs, what accounts for the constant displays of anger? If all passion is doused, how do marriage and propagation of the species manage to continue? Most importantly, if all violent urges have been suppressed, then why is the movie so violent?
The clerics undergo religious study, which apparently means bullet avoidance. Thus, in any gunbattle, the clerics can slip between the paths of bullets, no matter how numerous, while slaughtering multitudes. These balletic fights provide the film's slick stunt action, neatly choreographed by Jim Vickers.
Bale all too easily plays the zombie enforcer but never finds a convincing way to play his emerging emotions. Diggs' moral righteousness strikes the appropriate cord. Watson gives dash and vigor to a small role, but what is she even doing in this movie?
The models for the antiseptic city look all too familiar to sci-fi fans. Up-close interiors are mostly drywall wonders that perforate easily. Dion Beebe's cinematography is dark and moody in the nethers but changes to sunny and sterile in Libria's city center. That must be what is meant by equilibrium.
EQUILIBRIUM
Dimension Films
Blue Tulip Prods.
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Kurt Wimmer
Producer: Jan de Bont, Lucas Foster
Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Andrew Rona
Director of photography: Dion Beebe
Production designer: Wolf Kroeger
Music: Klaus Bedelt
Costume designer: Joseph Porro
Co-producer: Sue Baden-Powell
Editors: Tom Rolf, William Yeh
Cast:
John Preston: Christian Bale
Brandt: Taye Diggs
Mary O'Brian: Emily Watson
Master Cleric: Angus MacFayden
Partridge: Sean Bean
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 12/6/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt make strange bedfellows in "The Devil's Own", a beguiling but ultimately leaden tale of moral conflict focusing on an upright Irish cop in New York City (Ford) and a revenge-minded Irish terrorist on a mission to make a violent statement in support of his cause.
Unfortunately, the film is bedeviled by its murky, slow-moving dramatic nature and will be hurt appreciably at the boxoffice after the first weekend of major green based on the attractive pairing of Ford and Pitt.
In this heartbreaking old/new yarn, Pitt stars as Rory, a young man who witnessed his father being gunned down at the family dinner table because of his political affiliations (read IRA). A personable chap, Rory has never gotten over the horror of his father's death and he has become an avenging "angel" of sorts, moving to New York with a false identity and winning his way into the home of an upright Irish-American cop, Tom O'Meara (Ford). Tom is an old-school type guy, a straight arrow who eschews using force even in his capacity as one of New York City's finest. As a good Catholic with a houseful of daughters, it's not surprising that Tom takes to Rory's company immediately. In steadfast Tom, Rory sees the father he never had.
Although this scenario bursts with good male-bonding scenes, as Tom and Rory come to admire and respect each other, the screenplay tends to wallow in these scenes. In short, it never really cuts to the chase until way too late. Admittedly, the writing is bright, pointing up the respective moral dilemmas as personified by these two very different people, but nothing essentially happens for long patches of the film. The character development, while admirable, tends to subsume this thriller's obvious point of conflict.
Director Alan J. Pakula deserves credit for appreciating the significance of the pairing of these two very different individuals, but, alas, Pakula has allowed the script to stew. Aesthetically, Pakula and the well-chosen production team have swathed the film in a chorus of dark tones, reflective of the harsh and murky moral choices being made. Special praise goes to cinematographer Gordon Willis for the somber, complex hues and to composer James Horner for the indigenous sadness of the score.
Individually, Ford and Pitt are solid. With his close-to-the-neck haircut and crisp manner, Ford exudes the decency and certainty of a man who has his priorities carefully dotted. When he senses the stiff order of his ways is no longer working, he rallies forth in a decent, resilient manner. As the troubled terrorist, Pitt is strong -- charismatic and dangerous -- a time bomb waiting to explode. Other cast members are well-selected, including Ruben Blades as an police sergeant and Margaret Colin as Ford's rock-solid wife.
THE DEVIL'S OWN
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures and Lawrence Gordon present
an Alan J. Pakula film
Producers Lawrence Gordon,
Robert F. Colesberry
Director Alan J. Pakula
Screenwriters David Aaron Cohen,
Vincent Patrick, Kevin Jarre
Story Kevin Jarre
Director of photography Gordon Willis
Production designer Jane Musky
Editors Tom Rolf, Dennis Virkler
Costume designer Bernie Pollack
Music James Horner
Casting Alixe Gordin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tom O'Meara Harrison Ford
Rory Devaney Brad Pitt
Sheila O'Meara Margaret Colin
Edwin Diaz Ruben Blades
Billy Burke Treat Williams
Peter Fitzsimmons George Hearn
Chief Jim Kelly Mitchell Ryan
Megan Doherty Natascha McElhone
Sean Phelan Paul Ronan
Running time -- 113 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Unfortunately, the film is bedeviled by its murky, slow-moving dramatic nature and will be hurt appreciably at the boxoffice after the first weekend of major green based on the attractive pairing of Ford and Pitt.
In this heartbreaking old/new yarn, Pitt stars as Rory, a young man who witnessed his father being gunned down at the family dinner table because of his political affiliations (read IRA). A personable chap, Rory has never gotten over the horror of his father's death and he has become an avenging "angel" of sorts, moving to New York with a false identity and winning his way into the home of an upright Irish-American cop, Tom O'Meara (Ford). Tom is an old-school type guy, a straight arrow who eschews using force even in his capacity as one of New York City's finest. As a good Catholic with a houseful of daughters, it's not surprising that Tom takes to Rory's company immediately. In steadfast Tom, Rory sees the father he never had.
Although this scenario bursts with good male-bonding scenes, as Tom and Rory come to admire and respect each other, the screenplay tends to wallow in these scenes. In short, it never really cuts to the chase until way too late. Admittedly, the writing is bright, pointing up the respective moral dilemmas as personified by these two very different people, but nothing essentially happens for long patches of the film. The character development, while admirable, tends to subsume this thriller's obvious point of conflict.
Director Alan J. Pakula deserves credit for appreciating the significance of the pairing of these two very different individuals, but, alas, Pakula has allowed the script to stew. Aesthetically, Pakula and the well-chosen production team have swathed the film in a chorus of dark tones, reflective of the harsh and murky moral choices being made. Special praise goes to cinematographer Gordon Willis for the somber, complex hues and to composer James Horner for the indigenous sadness of the score.
Individually, Ford and Pitt are solid. With his close-to-the-neck haircut and crisp manner, Ford exudes the decency and certainty of a man who has his priorities carefully dotted. When he senses the stiff order of his ways is no longer working, he rallies forth in a decent, resilient manner. As the troubled terrorist, Pitt is strong -- charismatic and dangerous -- a time bomb waiting to explode. Other cast members are well-selected, including Ruben Blades as an police sergeant and Margaret Colin as Ford's rock-solid wife.
THE DEVIL'S OWN
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures and Lawrence Gordon present
an Alan J. Pakula film
Producers Lawrence Gordon,
Robert F. Colesberry
Director Alan J. Pakula
Screenwriters David Aaron Cohen,
Vincent Patrick, Kevin Jarre
Story Kevin Jarre
Director of photography Gordon Willis
Production designer Jane Musky
Editors Tom Rolf, Dennis Virkler
Costume designer Bernie Pollack
Music James Horner
Casting Alixe Gordin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tom O'Meara Harrison Ford
Rory Devaney Brad Pitt
Sheila O'Meara Margaret Colin
Edwin Diaz Ruben Blades
Billy Burke Treat Williams
Peter Fitzsimmons George Hearn
Chief Jim Kelly Mitchell Ryan
Megan Doherty Natascha McElhone
Sean Phelan Paul Ronan
Running time -- 113 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 3/19/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Anti-establishment lawyer and writer John Grisham's riveting lawyer novels are absolute pageturners, penetrating the intimidating facade of the legal system, and humanizing it with his behind-the-scenes knowledge. Alan Pakula's filmic adaptation painstakingly connects the plot points in Grisham's big-conspiracy novel, "The Pelican Brief, '' but his distillation scrapes off Grisham's real stuff, the fascinating and contradictory human behavior.
With Julia Roberts' return and Grisham's built-in fans, Warner Bros. will win a huge first weekend b.o. settlement, but word-of-mouth will only be lukewarm. File big winning numbers for this well-produced film, but nolo contendere as a blockbuster.
Even conspiracy nerds might be taken aback by the breadth and scope of "The Pelican Brief's'' plot: Two Supreme Court justices are assassinated simultaneously and, remarkably, there seems to be no connection. The two are ideological opposites, with one (Hume Cronyn) even at death's door. Especially troubled is Callahan, a Tulane law professor (Sam Shepard) who regarded the elderly justice as a mentor and father. He returns to boozing, despite the protests of his favorite student and lover, Darcy (Roberts).
While the nation puzzles and mourns (except at the White House where replacing two justices is seen as a legacy-making opportunity), Darcy hits the library and with her laptop synthesizes a brief, herein introduced as "The Pelican Brief, '' which theorizes who is behind the assassinations. It's a brilliant, unorthodox theory that might more plausibly require the efforts of 36 Cray computers. Remarkably, her brief soon makes its way to the FBI and eventually to the Oval Office.
The reaction comes back in the form of a bang: Callahan is blown up in the French Quarter, a bomb clearly intended for Darcy.
Suddenly, it's undercover girl vs. the old-boy power establishment, certainly a fun possibility, but in Pakula's logistical-retentive, stiff screenplay, "Pelican Brief'' plummets to tedium: Darcy scampers from phone booth to hotel room to public meeting place, collecting anonymous tips from numerous gray-suited types about new and more distant characters. Ad infinitum: the scenario unravels in expositional drudgery.
It's as if the screenplay were written as a blue-backed legal document, with all of Grisham's juicy character quirks and broadsides against the legal establishment ruled irrelevant. Fortunately, Pakula's visualization is more succinct and involving: As in "All the President's Men, '' his compositions, often filmed from a high vantage, clue us to hidden connections in the Byzantine halls of power. Praise to cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt for the telling framings.
Roberts is credible as the country-saving law student. Still, having her scamper about in nondescript clothes, dowdy hairdos and low-profile hats, despite its narrative correctness, may strike her fans as a miscarriage of star power. Denzel Washington, equal parts charm and tenacity, fares better as a Woodstein-type reporter, but Shepard is most wronged by Pakula's scripting. In the novel, his law-professor character was a complex man whose love of the law was clouded by his hatred of the system; in this all-too-brief-on-characters "Brief, '' he's merely a cradle-robbing drunk.
THE PELICAN BRIEF
Warner Bros.
An Alan J. Pakula Film
Producers Alan J. Pakula, Pieter Jan Brugge
Screenwriter/director Alan J. Pakula
Based on the book by John Grisham
Director of photography Stephen Goldblatt
Production designer Philip Rosenberg
Editors Tom Rolf, Trudy Ship
Costume designer Albert Wolsky
Music James Horner
Color/Stereo
Darby Shaw Julia Roberts
Gray Grantham Denzel Washington
Thomas Callahan Sam Shepard
Gavin Verheek John Heard
Fletcher Coal Tony Goldwyn
Denton Voyles James B. Sikking
Bob Gminski William Atherton
The President Robert Culp
Khamel Stanley Tucci
Justice Abraham Rosenberg Hume Cronyn
Smith Keen John Lithgow
Running time - 141 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
With Julia Roberts' return and Grisham's built-in fans, Warner Bros. will win a huge first weekend b.o. settlement, but word-of-mouth will only be lukewarm. File big winning numbers for this well-produced film, but nolo contendere as a blockbuster.
Even conspiracy nerds might be taken aback by the breadth and scope of "The Pelican Brief's'' plot: Two Supreme Court justices are assassinated simultaneously and, remarkably, there seems to be no connection. The two are ideological opposites, with one (Hume Cronyn) even at death's door. Especially troubled is Callahan, a Tulane law professor (Sam Shepard) who regarded the elderly justice as a mentor and father. He returns to boozing, despite the protests of his favorite student and lover, Darcy (Roberts).
While the nation puzzles and mourns (except at the White House where replacing two justices is seen as a legacy-making opportunity), Darcy hits the library and with her laptop synthesizes a brief, herein introduced as "The Pelican Brief, '' which theorizes who is behind the assassinations. It's a brilliant, unorthodox theory that might more plausibly require the efforts of 36 Cray computers. Remarkably, her brief soon makes its way to the FBI and eventually to the Oval Office.
The reaction comes back in the form of a bang: Callahan is blown up in the French Quarter, a bomb clearly intended for Darcy.
Suddenly, it's undercover girl vs. the old-boy power establishment, certainly a fun possibility, but in Pakula's logistical-retentive, stiff screenplay, "Pelican Brief'' plummets to tedium: Darcy scampers from phone booth to hotel room to public meeting place, collecting anonymous tips from numerous gray-suited types about new and more distant characters. Ad infinitum: the scenario unravels in expositional drudgery.
It's as if the screenplay were written as a blue-backed legal document, with all of Grisham's juicy character quirks and broadsides against the legal establishment ruled irrelevant. Fortunately, Pakula's visualization is more succinct and involving: As in "All the President's Men, '' his compositions, often filmed from a high vantage, clue us to hidden connections in the Byzantine halls of power. Praise to cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt for the telling framings.
Roberts is credible as the country-saving law student. Still, having her scamper about in nondescript clothes, dowdy hairdos and low-profile hats, despite its narrative correctness, may strike her fans as a miscarriage of star power. Denzel Washington, equal parts charm and tenacity, fares better as a Woodstein-type reporter, but Shepard is most wronged by Pakula's scripting. In the novel, his law-professor character was a complex man whose love of the law was clouded by his hatred of the system; in this all-too-brief-on-characters "Brief, '' he's merely a cradle-robbing drunk.
THE PELICAN BRIEF
Warner Bros.
An Alan J. Pakula Film
Producers Alan J. Pakula, Pieter Jan Brugge
Screenwriter/director Alan J. Pakula
Based on the book by John Grisham
Director of photography Stephen Goldblatt
Production designer Philip Rosenberg
Editors Tom Rolf, Trudy Ship
Costume designer Albert Wolsky
Music James Horner
Color/Stereo
Darby Shaw Julia Roberts
Gray Grantham Denzel Washington
Thomas Callahan Sam Shepard
Gavin Verheek John Heard
Fletcher Coal Tony Goldwyn
Denton Voyles James B. Sikking
Bob Gminski William Atherton
The President Robert Culp
Khamel Stanley Tucci
Justice Abraham Rosenberg Hume Cronyn
Smith Keen John Lithgow
Running time - 141 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 12/13/1993
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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