The Pelican Brief

A law student uncovers a conspiracy, putting herself and others in danger.

• Director:Alan J. Pakula
• Genre:Drama / Mystery / Thriller
• Runtime:141 minutes

Cast

• Julia Roberts : Darby Shaw
• Denzel Washington : Gray Grantham
• Sam Shepard : Thomas Callahan
• John Heard : Gavin Vereek
• Tony Goldwyn : Fletcher Coal

Two Supreme Court justices are assassinated. A terrorist named Khamel, who works as a hired assassin, shoots one of the justices as he lies in his sickbed. He strangles the other in a gay porn film theater. Tulane University Law School 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 in their votes. Her research also reveals that the Fifth Circuit, contrary to the interest of an oil company owned by Victor Mattiece, 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 the corporation’s appeal 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 oil magnate Mattiece (a close friend of and political contributor to 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 the paper (which becomes known as the “Pelican Brief”) to Gavin Verheek, a friend of his in the FBI. Not long after this, her law professor is killed by a car bomb. Darby survives, afraid that she’ll be the next target, Darby goes on the run.

Darby contacts Verheek to seek protection, and they arrange a meeting.Khamel murders Verheek and prepares to meet Darby in his place. She decides to go to Gray Grantham in order to publicize her ideas. After escaping from New Orleans, she meets him in New York and gives him the details of her brief from memory. Grantham tells her about Garcia, an unidentified informent who contacted Grantham, and they decide to try to locate the man. The man is Curtis Morgan, a lawyer in the oil and gas division of White & Blazevich.

Darby visits White & Blazevich pretending to have an appointment with Curtis Morgan. When she is told that he was killed by muggers, she suspects that his discovery of incriminating evidence was the reason, and Darby hurries out of the office.They visit his widow and discover a safe deposit key. Read more

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