The Pelican Brief 1993

Janet Maslin, New York Times: As the film piles on shovelfuls of further exposition, Mr. Washington and Ms. Roberts are left to look terrific and recite perfunctory lines. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: It's too bad that Pakula allows this 1993 movie to dawdle after its climax, but prior to that he's adept at suggesting unseen menace and keeping things in motion. Read more

Entertainment Weekly: Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: An unnecessarily-long thriller that contains far more talking than action. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A clever device to take your mind off your problems for 141 minutes. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: An old hand at this sort of thing, Pakula goes through the motions, but not much more. Read more

Brian Lowry, Variety: Pakula has improved on Grisham's book by excising much of the detritus, crafting a taut, intelligent thriller that succeeds on almost every level. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: A brightly wrapped, ketchup-drenched mush-burger, it slides down the Zeitgeist esophagus like a slippery McPelican. You pay, you swallow, you drive home. You're left with nothing except, possibly, heartburn. Read more