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The Pelican Brief
The movie poster for The Pelican Brief.
Directed by	Alan J. Pakula
Produced by	Alan J. Pakula Pieter Jan Brugge
Written by	John Grisham Alan J. Pakula
Starring	Denzel Washington Julia Roberts
Music by	James Horner
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	December 17, 1993
Running time	141 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Pelican Brief, rated PG-13 in the U.S., is a legal crime thriller based on the novel by the same name written by John Grisham and was adapted into a feature film in 1993, directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Julia Roberts in the role of young law student Darby Shaw and Denzel Washington as Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham.

Two Supreme Court justices are assassinated. They had been very different in their voting patterns and opinions in cases that had come before them. Tulane law student Darby Shaw theorizes that there may be some similarity in their otherwise-different voting patterns that may provide a motive for their assassinations. She discovers that both were protective of the environment (the only subject the two agreed on) in their votes. Research also reveals that the Fifth Circuit ruling, contrary to a corporation's financial interest, had ruled in favor of protecting an expanse of wetlands in Louisiana used by pelicans and other wildlife as a habitat.

The Supreme Court was expected to eventually hear an appeal by the corporation of that Fifth Circuit ruling; but now, two pro-environment justices who have been assassinated will not be able to take part in any Supreme Court vote on the appeal, and the main villain, oil magnate Victor Mattiece (a close friend of the President) hopes to have pro-oil justices named as their replacements.

Darby decides to research who might have been responsible for the murders, and writes her theories into a paper, which she shows to her law professor; he, in turn, gives it to a friend of his in the FBI so he can examine the theory contained in the paper (which becomes known as the "pelican brief"). Not long after this, her law professor is killed by a car bomb, intended to kill Darby.

Afraid that she'll be the next target, Darby goes on the run. She seeks out the help of Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham. Together, they hope to uncover the truth and expose the guilty parties.

• Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) - second year Tulane University law student; author of the brief
• Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington) - reporter for the fictional Washington Herald
• Fletcher Coal (Tony Goldwyn) - White House Chief of Staff; unofficial head of power
• Khamel "Sam" (Stanley Tucci) - international assassin
• Thomas Callahan (Sam Shepard) - Tulane law school professor; romantically involved with Darby Shaw
• Gavin Verheek (John Heard) - lawyer, special council to the FBI director; friend to Thomas Callahan
• F. Denton Voyles (James Sikking) - Director of the FBI
• Bob Gminski (William Atherton) - CIA Director
• The President (Robert Culp) - elected U.S. President whose name is unspecified and is always referred to as "the President"; delegates many administrative duties to Fletcher Coal
• Smith Keene (John Lithgow) - Gray Grantham's boss and Editor of the fictional Washington Herald
• Justice Rosenberg (Hume Cronyn) - eldest, most controversial Supreme Court Justice
• Justice Jensen (Ralph Cosham) - youngest Supreme Court Justice; apparently homosexual
• Curtis Morgan (aka Garcia) (Jake Weber)^[1] - lawyer informant who helps Darby Shaw.

• Victor Mattiece, the main villain, is never seen. This and the entire subplot of his behind-the-scenes machinations are totally absent from the movie, unlike the novel.

• The Pelican Brief at the Internet Movie Database

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