sol- Pressured by an ambitious district attorney after witnessing the suicide of a mob lawyer, a bratty adolescent seeks legal advise from a lawyer who lost custody of her children during her divorce in this legal thriller based on a novel by John Grisham. Susan Sarandon won the BAFTA Best Actress award for the film and received an Oscar nomination for her turn as the divorced lawyer. It is a better performance then one might expect as she does a great job quoting the law when facing up to the DA and fighting all legal avenues available when trying to get the boy out of having to take the stand in court; it is not all maternal instincts, though these do factor into play too. With this in mind, the film grows far too sentimental for its own good in its final few scenes. Brad Renfro's performance as the boy works also against the film; he is so insolent and rude that he is nearly impossible to warm to. The film's most grating performance though comes from Anthony LaPaglia as the rather brainless mafia goon out to get Renfro. The film is admittedly encapsulating though in the scenes where Renfro and LaPaglia manage to keep their mouths shut. There are lots of thrills and chills throughout, whether it be Renfro noticing the mafia tattoo on the hand of a seemingly kind stranger, or Renfro given a scare in a darkened elevator. Tommy Lee Jones also does what he can with his publicity-loving DA character.

SnoopyStyle Mark Sway (Brad Renfro) and little brother Ricky run across mob lawyer Jerome Clifford trying to commit suicide in his car. Mark tries to stop him. Jerome grubs him into the car, and confesses the location where his client Barry Muldano (Anthony LaPaglia) buried a body to the boy. Mark lies to the cops saying he didn't talk to Clifford. The cops, the FBI, and the DA Roy Foltrigg (Tommy Lee Jones) do not believe him. Mark under pressure hires lawyer Reggie Love (Susan Sarandon). Meanwhile the mob sends hit men Paul Gronke (Kim Coates).Brad Renfro is trying real hard to be a brat. In fact, he is trying too hard. He is successful in making his character very unlikeable. Joel Schumacher is concentrating on the kid. I think it may be better to concentrate on Reggie Love. Susan Sarandon does a great job and she saves this movie. Almost everybody else is playing one stereotype or another. Tommy Lee Jones is pouring it on. Mary-Louise Parker is playing the white trash single mom. And don't get me started on the mob guys. LaPaglia may as well be a pirate. Dialing it back would help sell the tension.Then there is the basic Grisham story. I don't buy that they wouldn't just kill the kid. It would help to not make the mob guys such stereotypes. At least then I would believe that these guys don't get a kill every other week. Then there is the Tommy Lee Jones character. He's all stick, and no carrot. Again he's too one-dimensional. Why wouldn't he offer immunity is beyond me. He's all huff and puff at every turn. That's really the big problem with almost everything in this movie. Everything is push up the 11 even if it makes no sense.

margiedempsey333 Lots of overacting and horrible fake Southern accents. A bit of ridiculous stuff in an otherwise good movie. Why can't they find Southern people to play these parts? Why do they insist on using actors and actresses that probably have never been to the South? We don't talk that way down here. We just DON'T! Watching it threw me off. The only real diction and pronunciation was the black judge; he was great. Real. Watching Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones act Southern is painful. I have to go on because I'm supposed to write at least ten lines of content but we Southerners don't need to rattle on to make a point. The bottom line for Hollywood: hire Southern actors to play Southern-based roles!

Gordon-11 This film is about a young boy who witnessed the suicide of a mafia lawyer."The Client" tells the thrilling story about a young boy who has to deal with the horror of witnessing a death, the subsequent legal battle and persecution from the mafia. The story is very intense, it grips me and keeps me on edge throughout. I feel for the poor boy who has the misfortune to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I also want to highlight Reggie Love's selfless kindness to help Mark in the first place. She is a really kind person to help a kid who happens to enter an attorney's office, who might be dismissed as buffing."The Client" is an intense and engaging drama. I enjoyed it a lot.