★★★★☆

The Pelican Brief is a good movie to pull out and give another viewing. Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington can just plain act. They had a really good screen chemistry. Given that I’m an old guy, seeing old tech in movies now is kind of cool as well. Another cool thing about pulling out a great old movie like this is being able to play the “Where are they now?” game.

Of course, for some of you many of these actors will be well before your time. It was kind of cool seeing James Sikking. Well, cool for someone who used to watch Hill Street Blues as a child. Other actors like John Lithgow seem to have burst onto the scene old and appear just as old now in their new stuff. He is still a joy on screen. Maybe there is only a fountain of eternal old?

Another nice thing about this who dunnit style movie is that it is from a time when conspiracy theories had to have actual physical evidence. You don’t have to reach or stretch to find yourself pulled into the plot. This is from a time when people could actually think for themselves rather than just parroting whatever some QAnon lackey posts.

The Pelican Brief is from a time when plot matter. The cast does a fine job. Selling the story was all about acting. Staring at a tube type computer monitor while trying to convey emotion about something supposedly on screen takes skill.

For more movie rental ideas please see list one and list two.