The Firm (1993)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Mitch McDeere	Tom Cruise	½
Abby McDeere	Jeanne Tripplehorn	½
Avery Tolar	Gene Hackman
Tammy Hemphill	Holly Hunter
Agent Wayne Tarrance	Ed Harris
Oliver Lambert, senior partner	Hal Holbrook	½
Royce McKnight	Jerry Hardin
Ray McDeere	David Strathairn
Lamar Quinn	Terry Kinney
Bill DeVasher	Wilford Brimley
Thomas Abanks	Sullivan Walker
Eddie Lomax	Gary Busey
F. Denton Voyles	Steven Hill
Tommy Morolto	Paul Sorvino
Joey Morolto	Joe Viterelli
The Nordic Man	Tobin Bell

Review

A film this star-studded both in front of and behind the camera, and with such a big budget, should not be allowed to fail. When it still largely does, it's because the script has a self-destructive way of alternatively over-complicating and resorting to cliches in order to spin an implicit web of danger around our conscientious protagonist. The Firm is not a film about people, but about characters, in which the plot-line is unfolded mechanically in order to reach the next development. The result is a cumbersome film which works mainly on a superficial level, despite Tom Cruise's best effort to carry it. The only real exception to the aforementioned is provided by Gene Hackman, who manages to make his character human in the midst of it all.