The Pelican Brief

1993 • 2h 21m •

Thriller Crime Drama

MOVIEVIBE Rating

★ 6.6/10

1,835 reviews

Your Rating

A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.

"Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead."

Top Billed Cast

Julia Roberts

Darby Shaw

Denzel Washington

Gray Grantham

Sam Shepard

Thomas Callahan

John Heard

Gavin Vereek

Tony Goldwyn

Fletcher Coal

James B. Sikking

Denton Voyles

William Atherton

Bob Gminski

Robert Culp

The President

Detailed Critic & Audience Reviews

W Wuchak Verified TMDB Critic

2018-05-25

Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington team-up in this crime thriller

RELEASED IN 1993 and directed by Alan J. Pakula from John Grisham’s novel, "The Pelican Brief” is a political drama/thriller about a law student (Julia Roberts) who researches the murders of two supreme court justices and shares her theory with her college professor (Sam Shepard) who, in turn, gives it to an FBI friend on a lark. The brief hits a nerve because people start dying one-by-one. Denzel Washington plays a DC reporter who teams-up with the student while Robert Culp appears as the president.

While I prefer �...