The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen podcast – The Firm

Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Wilford Brimley, Holly Hunter, Ed Harris and many more – what a cast.

A young Law School Graduate seeks his first job, and joins “The Firm” to begin his career, but it doesn’t go as planned.

This is a mid 90’s classic that should be on everyone’s list, so find it on Fetch and watch on your Hisense TV today!

Full AI Generated transcript below

[00:01:42]  Stephen Fenech: Hello and welcome to our wonderful podcast, The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen. Give yourself a raffle. It’s wonderful because it’s about movies and I love movies, but also wonderful that I get to show a new movie every week to my co-host Trevor Long, who’s becoming a real movie aficionado. He is really building up his library.

[00:02:01]  Trevor Long: I’m the Richard Wilkins of movie podcasts.

[00:02:02]  Stephen Fenech: We should get him on the show and just put you head to head with him.

[00:02:05]  Trevor Long: We’ll make it happen. You’d match him.

[00:02:07]  Stephen Fenech: Righto, this week we are talking about The Firm, 1993 release starring Tom Cruise, Gene Triplehorn, and Gene Hackman, directed by Sydney Pollack and based on the John Grisham bestseller, which I’ve read.

[00:02:23]  Trevor Long: As I guessed correctly last week.

[00:02:24]  Stephen Fenech: You did, yes, you did. This was a massive, like back when people were reading lots of books at the time, we were talking about the early ’90s, late ’80s, early ’90s. And this was a phenomenal bestseller. It sort of was a, it was a story because it was a story because he was a lawyer. This John Grisham, obviously a lawyer, and just tinkered away with this novel, had written one before this called A Time to Kill, which would eventually become a massive bestseller because of this. And this kind of put him on the map. And so there was a lot of buzz around this when they said, oh, they’re going to make a movie. Tom Cruise is going to be Mitch McDeere. And it was, the book was so well known that this was massive news, right? Gene Hackman, interestingly, You look at all the posters and advertising for this film. His name is nowhere to be seen.

[00:03:12]  Trevor Long: Oh, right.

[00:03:13]  Stephen Fenech: Because his contract said that his name had to come before the title in, in and in all the promotional materials. Tom Cruise contract called for his name and his name only to come before the titles and all promotional materials. So Hackwood thought, who does this bloke think he is? So he said, pull my name off everything. Doesn’t want to be on it.

[00:03:34]  Trevor Long: Didn’t want to make the second billing to anything.

[00:03:36]  Stephen Fenech: So he thought, well, I’m not going to be anything. I’m not going to go, who’s this young upstart?

[00:03:40]  Trevor Long: That’s hilarious.

[00:03:41]  Stephen Fenech: So in the film, his name though, when the credits comes after Cruise’s, I’d love to hear what scene that would be. Still before the title though. It’s in Tom Cruise’s head.

[00:03:49]  Trevor Long: It’s in Tom Cruise’s head now. Do you know what I mean? Like reflecting on who Tom Cruise is now. It’s fascinating.

[00:03:56]  Stephen Fenech: One, Ed Harris was in this movie too. And interestingly, He never really rated the screenplay. He says, “Yeah, it’s all right.” But he was friends with Sydney Pollack, the director, and with Tom Cruise. He goes, “Okay, I’ll do it.” Yeah, right. But I thought his part was pretty good.

[00:04:12]  Trevor Long: He did good.

[00:04:14]  Stephen Fenech: This was in 1993, okay? So we’re talking The Firm’s released, but it’s the— there was another book of his adapted in the same year, which was called The Pelican Brief. And that’s starred Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington. Right. So how’s that?

[00:04:29]  Trevor Long: So they were making it in the same year?

[00:04:29]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah. They were released in the same year. So I think Firm came out, I think, first and then Pelican Brief came out later. But yeah, amazing. Did you have any idea of this movie? You’d heard of it, sure.

[00:04:40]  Trevor Long: I feel like I’ve heard of the book because my mum’s a big John Grisham reader, big book reader. So I feel like I’d heard of the book. I guess I would have assumed it was a movie. That’s it.

[00:04:52]  Stephen Fenech: Righto. The film only took— it made $100 million at the box office. And only took 23 days to reach $100 million at the box office.

[00:05:08]  Movie Audio: Wow.

[00:05:08]  Stephen Fenech: It was also nominated for 2 Oscars. For? You tell me who you reckon.

[00:05:13]  Trevor Long: Like a supporting role?

[00:05:14]  Stephen Fenech: Supporting actress.

[00:05:15]  Trevor Long: Right. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Screenplay?

[00:05:19]  Stephen Fenech: No.

[00:05:19]  Trevor Long: No.

[00:05:20]  Stephen Fenech: Music score.

[00:05:21]  Trevor Long: Music. Oh yeah.

[00:05:22]  Stephen Fenech: It was great. The piano was great.

[00:05:24]  Trevor Long: Do you know what? I’ll tell you this now. What it felt like, it felt like the organist, the pianist was like playing along live. Yeah.

[00:05:31]  Stephen Fenech: You know what I mean?

[00:05:32]  Trevor Long: I did feel that. It just felt like they were just there with you in the room. Yeah, which goes to the sound system later.

[00:05:37]  Stephen Fenech: But that—

[00:05:37]  Trevor Long: it wasn’t like it was just, here’s a track, we’ll put it here. Yeah, it was like, hey, just watch this movie, the score, and play the piano.

[00:05:44]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, well, a lot of movies do that. They have a— they have the score.

[00:05:47]  Trevor Long: It didn’t feel scripted.

[00:05:49]  Stephen Fenech: It felt like it was just like organic, organically part of the movie. Yeah, you’re right.

[00:05:53]  Trevor Long: Uh, did he win either of those?

[00:05:54]  Stephen Fenech: Uh, no. The nominated— the actress nominated was Holly Hunter. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but get this, right, she lost to Anna Paquin, the young girl who was in the film The Piano, right?

[00:06:08]  Trevor Long: The, the, the—

[00:06:09]  Stephen Fenech: it was a Kiwi movie.

[00:06:10]  Trevor Long: Aussie bloke’s in it, Geoffrey Rush.

[00:06:12]  Stephen Fenech: No, no, no, he’s not. No, but the, um, the— you’re thinking of Shine, and he plays the piano in Shine. Okay, yeah, I was close. Somewhere close. You’re in the ballpark. But he— she lost to Anna Paquin in The Piano. Now Holly Hunter that year was nominated twice for Best Supporting Actress for The Firm and Best Actress for The Piano, and she won for The Piano that year. Oh, so she won Best Actress for The Piano, lost Best Supporting Actress on her co-star. Yeah, yeah, right, on the same night.

[00:06:44]  Trevor Long: It’s not a bad person to lose to.

[00:06:46]  Stephen Fenech: Absolutely.

[00:06:46]  Trevor Long: So your co-star wins. Yeah, okay.

[00:06:48]  Stephen Fenech: Uh, yeah, the Best Music Original Score, uh, that lost— they lost to Schindler’s List, won that one.

[00:06:53]  Trevor Long: Okay, pretty, pretty good.

[00:06:55]  Stephen Fenech: Righto, this is your last exit before the freeway. If you haven’t seen The Firm, you can catch it on Fetch.

[00:07:01]  Trevor Long: Fetch is an all-in-one entertainment service, great value entertainment, more content in just one place, very smart and easy to use. And you can get flexible packs at simple monthly prices to get all the entertainment you need. You can access live TV channels, monthly movies, streaming apps, and games on one easy menu, uh, and find what you want. to watch faster with an intuitive interface and a universal voice search. There’s 30 free-to-air channels, uh, 25 lifestyle channels, 11,000 movies, 30 MovieBox movies to watch every month, all part of your $3.99 subscription every month. And the packs that you can get to watch for a bunch of different channels, there’s, uh, there’s 5 different packs: Ultimate, Variety, uh, Vibe, Knowledge, and Kids. The individual packs like Kids or Knowledge, they’re $8. It’s $8 to add a package on, and for all of them, the ultimate, it’s $25. $25 a month for about 40-odd extra channels, which is brilliant value. And of course, then there’s the streaming apps. And as we’ve said a million times, if the program that you want to watch, the movie that you want to watch, is on the streaming platform that you already subscribe to— in this case, I watched The Firm on Stan via Fetch— it presented that to me straight away. I didn’t have to rent or buy it, even though that was also an option. If you want to find out more, if you want to get yourself a Fetch, they’re available at major retailers, and you can buy them and find out information at fetchtv.com.au.

[00:08:19]  Stephen Fenech: Rightio, you’ve now seen The Firm. Would you watch it on Stan? Did you watch Stan? Yes.

[00:08:23]  Trevor Long: Okay, yep.

[00:08:24]  Stephen Fenech: And so share, please share your— definitely the first time you’ve seen it, so share your first impression.

[00:08:29]  Trevor Long: You know what I like about this movie is you have no idea what it’s about for some time, but it’s not, not boring. Like, yeah, it’s just an engaging story about a young guy graduating and starting a job, like coming into the workforce and moving with his wife and all. Like, it’s just an engaging story about a character, and then you start to go, hang on a minute, what’s going on? And then, oh, hang on, like, so it It really draws you through.

[00:08:51]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:08:52]  Trevor Long: That I liked a lot because you, while there are parts that I felt predictable in that I was trying to work out what was gonna happen, the general plot line is not predictable at all. And I really enjoyed that. So yeah, I think it’s a great basis for a story. You can see why Grisham’s written, how many books has he written about law, legal stuff?

[00:09:10]  Stephen Fenech: They’re all about it.

[00:09:11]  Trevor Long: You know what I mean? Like you can see why, because you can make anything out of anything, which is brilliant.

[00:09:16]  Stephen Fenech: And what’s your social media post on this one?

[00:09:18]  Trevor Long: Tom Cruise running fast in a movie. Yes, that happens in The Firm, of course, but it’s not any sort of action movie. This is a gripping story about a legal firm and a young graduate making his way in a new world. Lots of characters to enjoy and a cracking cast too. Yeah, brilliant, brilliant cast. If I recognize a cast, then it must be good. Do you know what I mean?

[00:09:37]  Stephen Fenech: Solid.

[00:09:38]  Trevor Long: I’m a goose, but when I go, hang on a minute, that’s Adam Schiff from Law Order, or, you know, like when I’m noticing people, I’m like, hang on a minute.

[00:09:45]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, right. Yeah, that’s cool.

[00:09:45]  Trevor Long: That is big.

[00:09:48]  Stephen Fenech: I read the book, as I said, saw it at the movies because like I said, this was a massive release because of the book. The hype around the book was massive. The fact that it was being made into a movie and like, I don’t know, I know you’re not a massive reader, but as a reader I’m thinking, I read this book and really enjoyed it. I’m love— I can’t wait to see how they’ve interpreted it for a movie.

[00:10:09]  Trevor Long: I’ve always wondered that about the book to movie transition because I’m the kind of person—

[00:10:12]  Stephen Fenech: we’ll discuss—

[00:10:13]  Trevor Long: if I know the story, why would I want to watch the movie? So that’s a fascinating take that you want to— you’re actually watching You’re watching it as much because you enjoyed the story, but also because you want to see how they interpret and how they present it.

[00:10:24]  Stephen Fenech: Exactly right.

[00:10:24]  Trevor Long: Fascinating.

[00:10:25]  Stephen Fenech: See if it matches the picture you had in your head when you were reading.

[00:10:28]  Trevor Long: Yeah, yeah.

[00:10:28]  Stephen Fenech: But more on that later.

[00:10:29]  Trevor Long: Book v film. Book v film.

[00:10:31]  Stephen Fenech: More on that later. Let’s talk about the cast. And of course, Tom Cruise plays Mitch McDeere, and we’ve seen him in Top Gun, Risky Business, Mission: Impossible, Jerry Maguire, Minority Report. We’ve done all of those.

[00:10:48]  Movie Audio: Wow.

[00:10:48]  Trevor Long: Yeah, Tom Cruise, he’s our number one.

[00:10:51]  Stephen Fenech: He’s our man. Him and Michael Douglas, I think. Michael Douglas as well.

[00:10:55]  Trevor Long: I might— that’s a job for next week. I might ask AI to do the research.

[00:10:57]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, okay, ask Claude. Gene Hackman plays Avery Tolar. He was in Superman, The Poseidon Adventure, The French Connection, which we will do, and Crimson Tide. So we’ve already done Superman, Poseidon Adventure, Crimson Tide.

[00:11:14]  Trevor Long: Michael X. Luthor’s here. What’s going on? Yes.

[00:11:18]  Stephen Fenech: Jeanne Tripplehorn, did you recognize what movie she was from? I feel like she’s in two movies we’ve done.

[00:11:23]  Trevor Long: Oh really?

[00:11:24]  Stephen Fenech: Yes.

[00:11:24]  Trevor Long: Because I got— I’ll be the brutal male here. She’s gorgeous. Of course. There’s something— there’s this stunning natural beauty about just her face, right? And I went, oh my God, she’s gorgeous. And I spent a bit of time thinking about it and then I went, is it that Movie that was like on the, on the, on the boat.

[00:11:43]  Stephen Fenech: Waterworld.

[00:11:44]  Trevor Long: Waterworld. Yes.

[00:11:45]  Stephen Fenech: Like, like, did you look that up while you were doing that?

[00:11:48]  Trevor Long: No, no, because I remember because it was really just her and her and a little boy and Kevin Costner. That was kind of it.

[00:11:55]  Stephen Fenech: But what are the other movies she was in?

[00:11:56]  Trevor Long: No idea.

[00:11:57]  Stephen Fenech: She shows a little bit more of herself.

[00:11:58]  Trevor Long: Oh, really?

[00:11:59]  Stephen Fenech: Basic Instinct.

[00:12:00]  Movie Audio: Ah, right.

[00:12:00]  Stephen Fenech: Okay. Opposite Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone was the other actress.

[00:12:04]  Trevor Long: I think Sharon Stone’s the only people think about with that movie.

[00:12:07]  Stephen Fenech: So maybe, maybe she was also in another movie called Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow.

[00:12:11]  Trevor Long: We haven’t done that.

[00:12:12]  Stephen Fenech: We will get to it. It has become a lexicon of the year. It’s on the list.

[00:12:15]  Trevor Long: You know, I’ve seen the list of things that are on the list.

[00:12:17]  Stephen Fenech: Mine are on the list. Yeah, it’s very long. What I’ve promised. Yeah. Thanks, mate. You sent me the list of AI. I said, oh, here’s all what Stephen praises.

[00:12:24]  Trevor Long: I got AI to listen to every, all 240 episodes we’ve done and find every instance of Stephen saying it’s on the list.

[00:12:30]  Stephen Fenech: It’s on the list.

[00:12:31]  Trevor Long: And it’s a long list.

[00:12:32]  Stephen Fenech: Well, we can’t do every, we can’t do 10 movies a week. We’ve got to do it on a list. Anyway, you got to remember, I just, Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, Gene Triplett. There’s also Holly Hunter.

[00:12:41]  Movie Audio: Yep.

[00:12:42]  Stephen Fenech: Hal Holbrook, who plays the boss of the firm. Ed Harris. Wilford Brimley.

[00:12:48]  Trevor Long: Wilford Brimley from Cocoon.

[00:12:49]  Stephen Fenech: Cocoon.

[00:12:50]  Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:12:50]  Stephen Fenech: Gary Busey.

[00:12:51]  Trevor Long: Busey.

[00:12:52]  Stephen Fenech: Remember the investigator?

[00:12:53]  Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:12:53]  Stephen Fenech: David Strathairn, who plays his brother in jail.

[00:12:56]  Trevor Long: Don’t recognize him.

[00:12:57]  Stephen Fenech: And Stephen Hill from Law and Order.

[00:12:59]  Movie Audio: Law and Order.

[00:12:59]  Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:13:00]  Stephen Fenech: What’s going on here? He does. I’m like, hang on, that’s Adam.

[00:13:03]  Trevor Long: I’m watching a lot of Law and Order right now.

[00:13:04]  Stephen Fenech: So yeah, I knew you’d recognize him. Righto, before we get to the top scenes, let’s have a chat about Hisense. And you know what? It’s a new era with their new RGB Mini LED TVs. These have brand new backlight technology. So the RGB, which is red, green, blue— these are Mini LEDs that now form the backlight of the TV. So not only are they creating color, they’re also creating the brightness, and the result is next level picture quality. You’ll see the improvement in the color, in skin tones, the contrast. The whole bit is, is even better than ever before. It also— it’s all run through by the Hi View AI engine, so controlling all of those backlights as well to create that stunning picture. Also on the audio side, it’s got 4.1.2 multi-channel surround sound, and available of course in several sizes. We’re talking about the UR9 series, which is available in 65-inch, 75-inch, and 85-inch, and well within the reach of customers who want to experience this amazing new technology. So it’s great to watch your movies, to play your games, watch your sport, in an all-new level of quality. Check it out, the Hisense RGB Mini LED range in stores now, but you can also check it out at their website, hisense.com.au. Righty-o, let’s jump in here. The, the start is interesting. So we know, we find out that Mitch McDeer, which is Tom Cruise’s character, is a Harvard Law graduate, humble background, and he’s being scouted by a number of firms before settling on Bendini Lambert and Locke, which is a boutique firm in Memphis. You think a lot of these graduates that either go to New York or some big cities, but he decided on Memphis.

[00:14:54]  Trevor Long: Well, the whole first bit which you’re mentioning here is quite fascinating because it’s, you know, just cut scenes. Yeah.

[00:15:02]  Stephen Fenech: And just listening to—

[00:15:03]  Trevor Long: you don’t really get a sense of him, but you—

[00:15:05]  Stephen Fenech: I—

[00:15:05]  Trevor Long: what I bought into him was that he wasn’t arrogant. He was literally kind of naive in a sense.

[00:15:11]  Stephen Fenech: Working class, came up through the ranks.

[00:15:13]  Trevor Long: I felt that he was naive, but but keen, and that was the essence of him, which is fascinating because that is broadly his character. And for that to come out in that little—

[00:15:22]  Stephen Fenech: yeah, that was good exposition. But yeah, he does sit down though with Bendini, Lambert, and Locke.

[00:15:28]  Movie Audio: Mitch, I hope you don’t think us intrusive, but, uh, stability in the family has a special importance for us. Bendini, Lambert, and Locke is just a small Memphis firm, 41 lawyers. But we’re a large family, so we’re careful. Now, sir, you have any questions for us? Do you have an offer in mind? It includes a bonus schedule, low-interest mortgage so you can buy a home, country club membership, and we’ll lease you a new Mercedes. You pick the color, Mitch. Lamar, you haven’t been paying attention.

[00:16:09]  Stephen Fenech: His wife picks the color.

[00:16:10]  Movie Audio: It’s the color. Do I, uh, do I open it here? Of course. Unless you can tell us what’s in it. A lawyer worth that offer shouldn’t have to open the envelope.

[00:16:22]  Trevor Long: It’s a fair line.

[00:16:22]  Movie Audio: Mr. McKnight, you are the managing partner at Bendini Lambert and Moss, is that correct? Yeah.

[00:16:27]  Trevor Long: Oh, yeah.

[00:16:28]  Movie Audio: Did Mr. Lambert, as senior partner, give you any instructions regarding my employment? He did. And Mr. McKnight, do you usually follow Mr. Lambert’s instructions? Objection. Vague, ambiguous. Sustained. What precisely were those instructions? That you were in great demand, and I should make certain that we obtain your services before a bidding situation developed. How did you go about making certain? I, uh, bribed a clerk in the Harvard Law Placement Office for the exact amount of the highest offer, and then added 20%.

[00:17:04]  Trevor Long: Boom. See, it’s funny when he said a good lawyer wouldn’t need to open it. I’m thinking, what do you— what’s that mean? And then it’s just really nice how I think that Mitch also went, what do you mean by that? And then he went, because a good lawyer is a great interrogator, a great, great— finds out in the room and can interrogate witnesses. And that’s what he did. So I liked it. I liked that little scene a lot.

[00:17:25]  Stephen Fenech: And it’s good that the reveal is that they— that’s the only offer he ended up getting because he bribed the people at Harvard placement, added 20%.

[00:17:33]  Trevor Long: Yeah, very nice.

[00:17:35]  Stephen Fenech: Uh, Mitch and his wife Abby, which is played by Jeanne Tripplehorn, moved to Memphis. Now Abby, remember, they hold a like a big—

[00:17:43]  Trevor Long: they go to several ribs and the cornbread functions, and there’s one big outdoor like there. You don’t know whether it’s an actual event for the sort of him or sort of them.

[00:17:51]  Stephen Fenech: Not like a, like an orientation, but I don’t think he’s actually made up his mind. They’re sort of still— no, they haven’t actually.

[00:17:57]  Trevor Long: It’s like, it is still like the courting process.

[00:17:59]  Stephen Fenech: Yes, but, uh, yeah, like Abby is a bit skeptical of the family-oriented corporate culture. So just, you know, they had— no one’s divorced. They, they, they encourage children and things like that. But Mitch is also blinded by the prestige.

[00:18:15]  Movie Audio: Love Boat Band, the secret recipe ribs, they’re a little square maybe. I don’t mind square. I like square. Weird, I mind. What do you mean weird? Here’s a quote: Firm does not forbid me to take a job, and they encourage children. Ask me why. Because they love kids. Because children promote stability. Want to hear more? Nah, you’re right. Don’t pay any attention. I’m just gonna throw myself over the rail. I think my will is self-explanatory.

[00:18:46]  Trevor Long: Hey, hey.

[00:18:49]  Movie Audio: These are nice people, Abby. These are nice people. Okay, I’m more impressed with it than you are. You grew up with it. Do you know what $96,000 a year is here? It’s like $150,000 in New York. Did you ever think I’d make a six-figure salary? Absolutely. You did?

[00:19:05]  Trevor Long: She believed in him.

[00:19:09]  Movie Audio: Well, your folks, your folks are only a few hours away too. You mean if we fight, I don’t have far to drive? Exactly.

[00:19:21]  Stephen Fenech: She made two phone calls from the hotel, one to her parents and one to the Memphis school board.

[00:19:29]  Movie Audio: She seemed a little upset. Reluctant. I’d hate to lose this young man.

[00:19:35]  Stephen Fenech: Oh, I think she’ll come around.

[00:19:37]  Movie Audio: What about Kozenski and Hodges? Have you spoken to Chicago? I have.

[00:19:44]  Stephen Fenech: It’s not good. So that, that was that last bit.

[00:19:48]  Trevor Long: It’s a little, little mic drop moment where you’re like, wait, wait, what?

[00:19:50]  Stephen Fenech: Hang on, what?

[00:19:51]  Trevor Long: You know, because they’re just having this conversation where you— what you learn in that little last couple of seconds there is, hang on, they’re spying on these people, confirmed. Yeah, you know, they look at who she’s calling. Yeah. And then you’re like, hang on, what the hell did you just say about two other blokes?

[00:20:00]  Stephen Fenech: What? So really just plants drops in there.

[00:20:05]  Trevor Long: You don’t know. You hear this Chicago for the first time, which was irrelevant to me at the time, but now I listen back to it, I understand it.

[00:20:11]  Stephen Fenech: It’s a little—

[00:20:12]  Trevor Long: And you hear these two names. That’s really all it is.

[00:20:14]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah. And that’s, for the moment you think, okay, that’s a bit strange.

[00:20:18]  Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:20:18]  Stephen Fenech: And her radar though is pretty solid. Like her radar that something’s doing here.

[00:20:23]  Trevor Long: Well, but it’s a bit weird. I think he would have had the same reaction to hearing those things as her. I think he’s, we talked about his middle-class upbringing. For her to hear that, you know, baby thing and working thing, he would’ve had the same reaction. But hearing it thirdhand from her or secondhand from her, it was like, come on, love, you probably heard something different.

[00:20:42]  Stephen Fenech: Maybe.

[00:20:43]  Trevor Long: But yeah, she was very astute and keen.

[00:20:47]  Stephen Fenech: Mitch and Abby do meet other couples, including Lamar Quinn. That’s the young guy that was in these original meetings. And he said, I think they go out one night, remember that? And he goes, no one leaves. We’ve got, you know, they love you having kids and stuff like that. He does the stupid somersaults on the street. I’m thinking, what was the point of that? What are you, an acrobat?

[00:21:06]  Trevor Long: That had no meaning.

[00:21:08]  Stephen Fenech: It had zero meaning.

[00:21:08]  Trevor Long: Other than a callback later on where he doesn’t do it because he’s depressed. Like, what are we—

[00:21:12]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, I know, that was a bit silly. Cut that. And obviously not Tom Cruise. Yeah. Uh, Mitch is assigned to work under Avery Tolar, uh, played by Gene Hackman, who passed away, remember, last year.

[00:21:23]  Trevor Long: Oh, he did? Yeah, he did.

[00:21:24]  Stephen Fenech: He passed away. Remember, they found him in his home with his wife. Oh, that’s right.

[00:21:27]  Trevor Long: My God.

[00:21:28]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, yeah. Uh, but he is a— we find him a charming but cynical senior partner.

[00:21:34]  Movie Audio: I’m sorry, can I help you? Actually, I think I’m here to help you. I’m Avery Tolar, your designated mentor. Let’s go to lunch. Lunch? But it’s not even— not even noon. I know, it’ll be a working lunch. Come on up to my office while I drop this off. Everything depends on billing, how many hours you spend even thinking about a client. I don’t care if you’re stuck in traffic or shaving or sitting on a park bench. Now, my particular field, forming limited partnerships or offshore offshore corporations, mainly in the Cayman Islands. Good. I want you to review the last one I did for a client named Sonny Capps. Made over $14 million last year, paid less than 4% in taxes, and resents every buck of it. But he paid us $400,000 in fees. I don’t want to make him unhappy. Take a look at the deal, see if you can come up with anything. Madge, tell him I’ll call him in the morning, please. Yes, Mr. Toller. Should I save these for later? Could you, please? What do you mean by anything? What do you think I mean? Well, I don’t know. You’re the risk-taker. You think I’m talking about breaking the law? No, I’m just trying to figure out how far you want to invent. As far as you can without breaking it.

[00:22:34]  Stephen Fenech: Love that line.

[00:22:34]  Trevor Long: That’s a great— I thought you’d keep that as a line.

[00:22:36]  Stephen Fenech: Well, I thought I’d include it.

[00:22:37]  Trevor Long: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s relevant. It’s very relevant. Absolutely relevant. But it’s a really good line. Like, how far do you want to go? Bend it as far as you can without breaking it.

[00:22:44]  Stephen Fenech: Without breaking it. There we go. So Avery begins training Mitch in the world of tax law and offshore accounts, but there is some cracks starting to appear. We do find out soon after the two associates in the firm have died in a mysterious boat explosion in the Cayman Islands.

[00:23:03]  Movie Audio: Marty Kosinski and Joe Hodges were killed. We just got word about 20 minutes ago. Did you meet them at the barbecue? What happened, Kay? We’re not sure. They were diving off a boat on Grand Cayman, and then there was some kind of explosion on the boat.

[00:23:22]  Stephen Fenech: So do you remember those two names?

[00:23:24]  Trevor Long: They were the names. They were just randomly dropped earlier.

[00:23:27]  Stephen Fenech: Wilford Brimley mentioned it earlier.

[00:23:28]  Trevor Long: So, so there’s crime It’s starting to appear suspicious now.

[00:23:32]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, cracks are appearing in the formerly polished image of the firm. They have their memorial, and after the memorial, Mitch is in a diner and he’s approached by who we don’t know at the time, but we find out he’s an FBI agent, Wayne Terrence, which is Ed Harris’s character.

[00:23:51]  Trevor Long: Shaved, polished bald head.

[00:23:53]  Stephen Fenech: Shaved bald head, chrome dome. He warns him, he said, look, no one ever leaves that firm.

[00:24:00]  Movie Audio: So what’s good here? I’m just having coffee. I’m going with a steak sandwich.

[00:24:09]  Trevor Long: Two steak sandwiches on rolls, please.

[00:24:11]  Stephen Fenech: Two steak sandwiches on rolls.

[00:24:14]  Movie Audio: You with Bendini, Lambert, and Locke? Yeah, how did you—

[00:24:21]  Stephen Fenech: He sees his book here with the name on it.

[00:24:23]  Movie Audio: Sorry, I missed it.

[00:24:25]  Stephen Fenech: Looks like they’re working you to death.

[00:24:27]  Movie Audio: They do that with new associates, I guess. I’ve just been with them now 8 weeks. Sorry, guys, I’m just a little punchy.

[00:24:39]  Stephen Fenech: That firm looks like a health hazard.

[00:24:42]  Movie Audio: Hours they make you keep.

[00:24:43]  Stephen Fenech: Kind of work they make you do.

[00:24:45]  Movie Audio: Kaczynski and Hodges.

[00:24:49]  Stephen Fenech: Bob Lamb and— Alice Krauss.

[00:24:53]  Movie Audio: That’s 4 dead lawyers out of 41 in less than 10 years.

[00:24:57]  Stephen Fenech: None of them over the age of, what, 45? I mean, that beats the hell out of any life insurance tables I’ve ever heard about.

[00:25:04]  Movie Audio: Who are you guys?

[00:25:08]  Stephen Fenech: Could we get those sandwiches to go, please?

[00:25:11]  Movie Audio: We’ll probably see each other again.

[00:25:19]  Stephen Fenech: Mm-hmm. So interesting little cryptic and just plants a lot of doubt in his mind. So remember, because we find— we know two died in the Caymans and he has two others that he just mentioned, all under the age of 45.

[00:25:30]  Trevor Long: Mitch wasn’t in the room when we would drop those names earlier.

[00:25:32]  Stephen Fenech: So this is the—

[00:25:33]  Trevor Long: we already were suspicious as viewers. This plants a strong air of suspicion in his mind.

[00:25:38]  Stephen Fenech: Now Mitch is thinking, what’s happening?

[00:25:40]  Movie Audio: Yeah.

[00:25:41]  Stephen Fenech: Next up, he goes to the Caymans with his man Tola to talk to one of their big clients. Mitch knocks it out of the park, proves himself himself in the meeting. Tola was pretty nervous though, but basically tells this gangster type dude that you’re an idiot if you don’t do what we tell you.

[00:25:54]  Trevor Long: Yeah, but he initially is like stepping on his toes like, whoa, whoa, what are you doing here, kid? But he nails it, he nails it.

[00:26:00]  Stephen Fenech: Now my little interjections are going to be called, uh, sidebars.

[00:26:03]  Trevor Long: Oh, not bad.

[00:26:03]  Stephen Fenech: My side—

[00:26:04]  Trevor Long: they could have just been called objections.

[00:26:05]  Stephen Fenech: Objection. Now, well, it’s a sidebar with information. The sidebar here is the, uh, the hotel in the Caymans, the Hyatt Regency Grand Bremen was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. So that hotel, uh, still I believe sits vacant, rotting away to this day. It was totally destroyed in a hurricane.

[00:26:27]  Trevor Long: That’s amazing.

[00:26:29]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, but we have seen it in its, uh, in its ideal condition in the movie. Uh, now he— while he’s there, do you remember with the accident, the boating accident, he finds the name A. Banks? Yep. And he goes to investigate the boating charter company, because he’s got his own little suspicion. So he goes to investigate for himself.

[00:26:52]  Movie Audio: I lost my son. Don’t you think I would have screamed bloody murder if I thought something was wrong? You’re right, Mr. Banks. I’m sorry, okay? You’re right. I’m sorry. Nothing to bury, even just a stone. They never did find him or the other two. What other two? The other two I know who split the charter. Your friends and two other guys. Lawyers? They were in swimsuits. They paid cash. Were they American? Could have been anything. One was, I don’t know, squat heavy. Other guy had long blonde hair, almost white, with weird blue eyes.

[00:27:36]  Stephen Fenech: So we learned from there that the two weird blue eyes thing, you know, two or two other people.

[00:27:41]  Trevor Long: Yeah, yeah.

[00:27:42]  Stephen Fenech: And they were the boat—

[00:27:43]  Trevor Long: the boat that his son took out had four people on it. We only knew about two of them, and they’re the dead lawyers.

[00:27:48]  Stephen Fenech: Two dead lawyers, right? So you’re thinking, what’s going on?

[00:27:50]  Trevor Long: Who are the other two people that are apparently dead?

[00:27:54]  Movie Audio: Yeah.

[00:27:54]  Stephen Fenech: Um, Mitch later, remember, he goes back to Avery’s apartment and he finds, uh, there’s a locked room and all full of files.

[00:28:01]  Trevor Long: He’s just in the kitchen trying to get a beer, and then, uh, old mate says, mate, grab, uh, grab something to eat. There’s a little locked cupboard next to it.

[00:28:07]  Movie Audio: Yeah.

[00:28:08]  Trevor Long: And it’s very— it’s good cinematography because it shows the small under bench locked cupboard. And then it pulls wide and you see another lock and it’s like, which he rightly just opens the first one he sees, but it’s got legal files and stuff in there. And now interestingly, there’s a name on nearly every box.

[00:28:24]  Stephen Fenech: There is, including the dead lawyer’s name.

[00:28:26]  Trevor Long: And then this other name across all of them.

[00:28:28]  Stephen Fenech: Yes, there are, that we hear later. Now they go to dinner. He said to him, remember he goes, “You’ve earned yourself a great dinner and a night out. Yeah, good, well done.” And yeah, he’s a— Tola’s a bit of a player. He’s there, he’s with him. Been around him.

[00:28:41]  Trevor Long: And especially given what we know of the Firm, the Firm is very family-oriented, you know, good to your wife, all that kind of stuff.

[00:28:47]  Stephen Fenech: He waits till he gets to the Caymans before he cuts loose.

[00:28:50]  Trevor Long: Yes.

[00:28:50]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah. But we see later on Mitch is walking down the beach. He comes to the aid of a woman who’s being harassed on the beach. Yeah.

[00:28:58]  Trevor Long: So he sees like an older dude.

[00:28:59]  Stephen Fenech: Sort of comes to her aid.

[00:29:00]  Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:29:01]  Stephen Fenech: Other bloke rushes off.

[00:29:02]  Trevor Long: Straps her ankle. Her ankle’s strained.

[00:29:04]  Stephen Fenech: And then hey presto, one thing leads to another. Yeah.

[00:29:08]  Trevor Long: I keep screaming at the TV, stop. Yeah.

[00:29:12]  Stephen Fenech: Like at that, let me ask you now at that point, did you think that was something fishy?

[00:29:17]  Trevor Long: No, I didn’t pick that up.

[00:29:18]  Movie Audio: Right.

[00:29:19]  Stephen Fenech: ‘Cause it was just, it seemed like a coincidence.

[00:29:22]  Trevor Long: Yeah. Put it this way. I didn’t believe that. I picked it up earlier than it was exposed to us in the movie. But no, no, I was literally screaming like hand on breast. I’m like, mate, what are you doing? And then the kisses, I’m like, mate, stop.

[00:29:33]  Stephen Fenech: What are you doing?

[00:29:36]  Trevor Long: What are you doing? Yeah.

[00:29:39]  Stephen Fenech: Mitch visits his brother Ray in jail. So we know that he’s serving a manslaughter charge. Yeah, it was.

[00:29:45]  Trevor Long: Which also is a risky moment because he’s on the plane home with Tyler and he says, go have the afternoon off with your wife. But he ends up, which by the way, he’s in a, which state’s he in?

[00:29:55]  Stephen Fenech: Like Memphis.

[00:29:56]  Trevor Long: But is the brother in?

[00:29:58]  Stephen Fenech: Must be nearby.

[00:29:59]  Trevor Long: They say it later on.

[00:30:02]  Stephen Fenech: Louis—

[00:30:03]  Trevor Long: I thought they said Louisiana or something. But anyway, I’m like, how far did he go?

[00:30:06]  Stephen Fenech: Not far away. Yeah, I think he’d be close.

[00:30:08]  Trevor Long: I don’t know, there was something— I thought there was a plot hole there.

[00:30:10]  Stephen Fenech: But anyway, yeah, the Mitch visits Ray. His brother’s name’s Ray. She’s serving a manslaughter charge, and he tells him about his doubts about the firm. Now, another sidebar here. Mitch in this movie has an older brother named Ray.

[00:30:24]  Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:30:25]  Stephen Fenech: What other movie has he been in where he has an older brother named Ray. Oh, and we’ve done it.

[00:30:29]  Trevor Long: Yeah, it’s, uh, it’s, it’s, um, Dustin Hoffman was his brother. Yeah, it’s, uh, it’s Qantas. Rain Man.

[00:30:36]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, so that’s his second.

[00:30:37]  Trevor Long: I think of Qantas before the title of the movie.

[00:30:40]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, Qantas Never Crash.

[00:30:41]  Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:30:42]  Stephen Fenech: Uh, Ray tells Mitch to go see a private investigator, uh, Eddie Lomax, who he, uh, actually served some time with.

[00:30:51]  Movie Audio: This is not my area of expertise. Well, you think it’s possible? Anything’s possible. I’ll tell you one thing, if those guys at the steak joint were feds, you better watch out for them because they don’t give a damn about you. I get some pretty pissed off husbands in here. On the other hand, the lawyers at your firm sure as hell seem accident-prone.

[00:31:15]  Stephen Fenech: Which is true.

[00:31:16]  Trevor Long: Yes, it’s the same observation the cops made in the diner.

[00:31:19]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, so that like it’s coming at him from all directions now, like he He heard it from the FBI. He’s hearing other stuff. And now he tells this, this Lomax dude tells him other stuff as well.

[00:31:29]  Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:31:30]  Stephen Fenech: Um, so yeah, it is pretty confronting. Now what, what happens now? He was sent to Washington for a tax summit. Remember, they go, oh, that’s right, good for that. And while he’s there, uh, he is cornered by the FBI and, uh, he then sits down on a bench and is told the dark secret behind the firm.

[00:31:52]  Movie Audio: I appreciate you coming, Mr. McDeer. I’ll call you Mitch, if I may. My name is Voyles, Denton Voyles. I’m with the Department of Justice. What happened to Eddie Lomax? We’ve been investigating Bendini, Lambert, and Locke for 4 years. No lawyer has ever left your law firm alive. 5. 2 tried to leave, they were killed. 2 were about to try, you know what happened. Now, we have reason to believe that your house is bugged. Your phones are tapped, your office is wired. They may follow you. They may be here in Washington as we speak. You’re saying my life is over? I’m saying that your life as you know it is over. Your law firm is the sole legal representative of the Meraldo crime family in Chicago, known as the mafia, the mob. I don’t believe it. They set up legitimate businesses with dirty money from drugs, gambling, prostitution, all cash, all moved underground. Offshore, you believe it. That’s why you talked to Thomas A. Banks in the Caymans. That’s why you got this private investigator asking questions that got him killed.

[00:33:15]  Stephen Fenech: Because soon after, remember when he spoke to Lomax, the long blonde-haired dude, Tammy came in, was under the desk when he got killed. So, yep. And then he found out this. Now Mitch is also now continuing this scene, told what his options are.

[00:33:34]  Movie Audio: Why don’t you get indictments and then bust it all up? We have to have somebody on the inside. We need to see copies of contracts, clients’ bank records, articles of incorporation. Wait a minute. You think I’m— You can say no, but we’re going to break this firm. And when that happens, you’re going to go to jail along with the rest. It’ll happen soon. Son, believe me. Why can’t I just leave? That’s what Kaczynski and Hodges were trying to do. You have to think this over. Meanwhile, you and your wife have to behave as though everything is normal. I don’t discuss this anyone, but make a decision. You help us, we’ll make it worth your while. Worth my while? You’ll still have a pretty good life. You mean in a witness protection program? How? I live somebody else’s life in some nowhere place, and one day I’m backing out of the driveway and my car explodes? It doesn’t have to be that way. I don’t need much of a life, Mr. Voyles, but it has to be mine. Love what you got now, son.

[00:35:00]  Stephen Fenech: Good point. That’s pretty heavy stuff that he just dropped on him right there. Thinking your life as you know it’s finished. Here are your options. If you don’t cooperate, you’re going to go to jail.

[00:35:08]  Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:35:08]  Stephen Fenech: So he’s thinking, wow, I’m in a corner.

[00:35:10]  Trevor Long: It’s the first time, you know, you hear about witness protection all the time. Yeah, in shows. But it was the first time it made me think, well, hang on a minute, Wait a minute. Yeah, witness protection doesn’t always sound like a great option because like he’s a high-flying lawyer making good money. What a great life. He’s gonna end up being essentially a middle-class, maybe minimum income.

[00:35:28]  Stephen Fenech: Like what? Yeah, I know.

[00:35:29]  Trevor Long: How good a life can you build for yourself?

[00:35:31]  Stephen Fenech: I would never have been in the witness protection program.

[00:35:33]  Trevor Long: Fascinating.

[00:35:34]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah. But it is, yeah, he’s thinking, well, like he said, he goes, “I don’t want much, but I wanted to live my own life.” Yeah. So now comes the tipping point here. Tammy, who was present, remember when Lomax was killed? She—

[00:35:47]  Trevor Long: this is genius from her. Yeah, she comes to the big office of the firm.

[00:35:51]  Stephen Fenech: Yep.

[00:35:52]  Trevor Long: Uh, disguised as a food delivery person wanting payment for the food.

[00:35:56]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:35:57]  Trevor Long: Uh, and he just notices, he recognizes it just, just in enough time.

[00:36:01]  Movie Audio: I’m sorry, Tammy. They wanted to know who hired him and why he was asking questions about the employers. You actually saw them? Um, one guy was stocky, looked like a wrestler. He’s gonna limp the rest of his life ’cause Eddie hit him in the knee with that cannon under his desk. Um, the other guy was like an albino. Long thin hair, almost white, dead blue eyes. Uh-huh. My landlord said they came looking for me yesterday, so I checked in the Motel 6 on River Street. I couldn’t think anywhere else to go. Listen, um, they’re gonna put Eddie together with Rayne. When they do, it’ll lead to you. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. Eddie wouldn’t like it, so you’re in as much trouble as I am. Listen, there’s a building around the corner called the Cotton Exchange. Maybe you can’t help Debbie.

[00:37:21]  Stephen Fenech: So what I love about this is that you’re hearing everything coming from all directions now, so he’s definitely in the zone where it’s, he’s got to do something. He’s threatened in several directions. 100%.

[00:37:33]  Trevor Long: But what I love about it is that you hear tiny, like the slitherest of information. Like he mentions the cotton billy. Yeah, that’s all we hear.

[00:37:41]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:37:41]  Trevor Long: But it’s not until, you know, a scene or two later that you realize what’s happened. Like, do you know what I mean? They don’t— he doesn’t expose his whole plan.

[00:37:47]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:37:47]  Trevor Long: Um, same as we’re coming up when he talks to— he tells his wife. It’s, it’s— you don’t hear what he says to her. So like there’s just a lot of assumed, uh, stuff, which is great. And then it’s exposed a little bit later.

[00:37:59]  Stephen Fenech: Getting all the breadcrumbs.

[00:38:00]  Trevor Long: Yes.

[00:38:00]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah. Um, so meanwhile, the firm’s security chief, Bill DeVasho— that’s Wilford Brimley’s character— yeah, reveals he has photos of Mitch’s infidelity in the case.

[00:38:11]  Trevor Long: This is where you go, they knew all along.

[00:38:14]  Stephen Fenech: They trapped him. It was a setup.

[00:38:16]  Movie Audio: The FBI wouldn’t have come after you if they didn’t figure they’d get to you.

[00:38:19]  Stephen Fenech: What do you suppose made Why would they think that?

[00:38:20]  Movie Audio: I have no idea.

[00:38:22]  Stephen Fenech: Well, see, it’s my job to have an idea about that. For example, they might know how important your young wife is to you. They might use that.

[00:38:32]  Movie Audio: How?

[00:38:35]  Stephen Fenech: Avery says last Friday you took the afternoon off. He figures you might have been with another woman. That’s when he was visiting his brother. Yeah.

[00:38:43]  Movie Audio: Why would Avery—

[00:38:44]  Stephen Fenech: How do you know you weren’t followed? Here’s your Abby one day walking to the mailbox, anticipating the arrival of her Redbook or Sharper Image catalog.

[00:39:00]  Movie Audio: What does she find instead? She finds heartache, Mitch.

[00:39:06]  Stephen Fenech: The death of love and trust. Imagine her one day opening that.

[00:39:12]  Movie Audio: Go ahead, take a look.

[00:39:14]  Stephen Fenech: So it’s an inside of photos of him rolling around on the beach. Yeah, so yeah.

[00:39:18]  Trevor Long: And like his reaction here is perfectly acted. Yeah, it’s, it’s devastation. Oh my, because he’s devastated that he’s completely stuffed up.

[00:39:28]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, he’s completely ruined his misstep by a mile. Yeah, uh, Mitch gets Tammy, remember he mentioned the Cotton Exchange Building. Yep, he gets her set up in an office, or she sets herself up in the office, which we kind of know.

[00:39:40]  Trevor Long: He obviously leaves, that’s what I mean by we don’t hear it, But he obviously says to her, okay, here’s a bunch of money, go and set up an office, get a photocopier.

[00:39:47]  Stephen Fenech: And then there’s a scene where she’s expecting the copier. But then Mitch goes home and confesses his beach discretion to his wife.

[00:39:53]  Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:39:54]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah. He says, sorry. And then she obviously reacts pretty, pretty negatively. And is you thinking, well, is she going to leave him?

[00:40:02]  Trevor Long: What’s going to happen? Actually, at home, he doesn’t tell her about the affair because that happens later at dinner.

[00:40:07]  Movie Audio: Yeah.

[00:40:07]  Trevor Long: He says at home, he tells her the place is bugged and those people were murdered and all that kind of stuff. And he didn’t even need to tell her, like he confesses asks her to dinner and she says no.

[00:40:16]  Stephen Fenech: Yes. And he, she just could tell.

[00:40:18]  Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:40:18]  Stephen Fenech: Just read his face. Yeah. So Mitch, you know what? He makes a move here. He’s gonna outsmart everyone. Now in the Cotton, remember he had a, they kept, the bloke kept ringing him about his appointment. Go see this guy, I forget his name now. But okay, I’ll get, he’s in the Cotton Exchange Building. He goes, I hear, I’m here now.

[00:40:36]  Trevor Long: He’s got a legitimate firm client in the Cotton Exchange Building.

[00:40:39]  Movie Audio: So he discovers though, after talking to this dude, that the firm is over, Listen, I know I’m not Vendini Lambert’s most valuable client, but I’ve got a legitimate complaint here. You never spent 33 hours last month on my account. Is that what you were billed? If you don’t see your own bills— Oh, I just, uh, I just submit my timesheet. Where is it? It’s on file with the office manager. You know, this overbilling thing This kind of thing’s gotten so common, nobody gives it another thought. It’s kind of like tipping. Well, it’s not policy, Mr. Mulholland. It sure seems like policy. It’s been going on over there for years. People forget something else, too. When somebody over there put a stamp on this and mailed it, you know what happened? It became a federal offense. You damn right. —each instance punishable by $10,000 fine, 3 to 5 years each instance.

[00:41:43]  Stephen Fenech: So he gets a little seed planted there about what’s going on. Mitch goes to see Terrence, remember the FBI dude from the diner, and they meet at the Greyhounds to work out a deal that will fit with his plans. Mr. Voyles wants me to tell you how much the Bureau appreciates—

[00:42:02]  Movie Audio: $1 million in a numbered account in Switzerland. IBG Bank International in Zurich. Sure as hell turned greedy overnight. Get my brother out now. Your brother is a convicted felon, Mitch. And get yourself another snitch. He’s in for manslaughter. There was a brawl in a bar. If he hadn’t done any boxing, it would have been self-defense. It’s still a felony, Mitch. You heard me, Terrence. My brother Brother out now and make it a million and a half. How about you get down on your knees and kiss my ass for not indicting you as a co-conspirator right now, you chicken shit little Harvard cocksucker? I haven’t done anything, you know it.

[00:42:41]  Stephen Fenech: Who gives a fuck?

[00:42:42]  Movie Audio: I’m a federal agent. You know what that means, you lowlife motherfucker?

[00:42:44]  Stephen Fenech: You got no rights.

[00:42:45]  Movie Audio: Your life is mine.

[00:42:46]  Stephen Fenech: I could kick your teeth down your throat, yank them out your asshole. I’m not even violating your civil rights.

[00:42:50]  Movie Audio: Goodbye, Agent Wayne Terrence. Yeah, you’re goddamn right I am. Maybe local cops can’t Phone call. Yeah. Is this Wayne Terrence? Who is this? Is this Wayne Terrence? Yeah, this is Wayne Terrence. So is this. Sucker, I haven’t done anything and you know it.

[00:43:15]  Stephen Fenech: Who gives a fuck?

[00:43:15]  Movie Audio: I’m a federal agent. You know what that means, you lowlife motherfucker? You got no rights. Your life is mine.

[00:43:19]  Stephen Fenech: I could kick your teeth down your throat, yank them out your asshole. I’m not even violating your civil No, I think you ought to reconsider. Smart. Solid blackmail. Yeah. Now, instead of choosing— because don’t forget, like, the firm is sort of there, FBI. And initially, remember, he’s a— when he was initially approached by the FBI, he did actually report it to—

[00:43:42]  Trevor Long: yes, it doesn’t really make sense what he’s— what he told them and how he was telling them in a way that they would be okay with.

[00:43:49]  Stephen Fenech: But anyway, he told them that, that he’d spoken to them, and they say, yeah, they often try to sort of do that and intimidate and try to get you to, you know, but by the end of that meeting though, they kind of put him at ease a little bit. Yeah. Or did they? I’m not sure. But now he’s thinking, well, I’ve got to make my own plans here. Yeah.

[00:44:07]  Trevor Long: He’s basically realized that witness protection is not a fun outcome. Yeah. Nor is being involved in the firm and working with the mafia. So I’ve got to, I’ve got, I need a plan.

[00:44:15]  Stephen Fenech: So his challenge is to escape alive. Yeah. Avoid prison and protect his wife.

[00:44:21]  Trevor Long: Life and his long-term security without being a target for the mob.

[00:44:25]  Stephen Fenech: But Abby, though, is now distant, wants to leave. She says she’s sick.

[00:44:31]  Trevor Long: They come up with a plan because the place is bugged. She can’t walk out on him because the firm would find out. She knows that. So they go inside the house and say, my mum’s sick, I need to leave. So she’s going to leave and go and see her mum.

[00:44:41]  Stephen Fenech: And then Toll, I remember, sees her at the school. Like, there’s something doing there. He fancies her. Oh yeah, he has from the start. He’s been sniffing around her from the start. He approaches her. Her at the school, says, “I heard you’re leaving. Why don’t you come to the Caymans with me?” She went, “What?” But it’s fun.

[00:44:55]  Trevor Long: It’s really interesting because she has this whole conversation. And then he tells her at the school that he’s not going diving. He’s had to cancel that ’cause he’s got a short trip. And she twigs, ’cause she’s aware of the plan that Mitch has got. She twigs that him not doing what he’s planning to do, he’s gonna screw Mitch’s plan.

[00:45:11]  Stephen Fenech: There won’t be the diversion.

[00:45:12]  Trevor Long: So she sprints back into the school to make the phone call.

[00:45:15]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah. Tammy. Yeah, she’s working with Tammy for some reason, but, but yet Mitch doesn’t know this. No, unbeknownst to Mitch, she’s helping out. That’s right. Yeah, uh, Mitch’s brother Ray is released on parole. Um, a little sidebar here, the, uh, director cameo Sidney Pollack, he’s the voice of the prison guard on the phone informing the special agent that a prison guard sent an unauthorized fax regarding Mitch’s brother Ray. There you go. Yeah, uh, Abby, as I said, unbeknownst to Mitch, takes Avery up on his offer and meets him in the Caymans.

[00:45:54]  Movie Audio: How’d the test turn out? We were worried for no reason. That is her mother.

[00:46:02]  Stephen Fenech: I didn’t think we got on that well in the schoolyard.

[00:46:07]  Movie Audio: Maybe I’ve grown up since I’d love to believe that.

[00:46:14]  Stephen Fenech: So he’s a weird cat, eh, really?

[00:46:16]  Trevor Long: Oh man, he works for this firm that’s really strict with their relationships and their policies, and that is a bit of a, uh, he’s a strange character overall.

[00:46:25]  Stephen Fenech: He’s a bit of a horn dog.

[00:46:26]  Trevor Long: Yeah, very, very strange character.

[00:46:29]  Stephen Fenech: Uh, Abby throughout the night now proceeds to drug Tola, so she’s just roofying him him so she can get to the documents in his apartment. Yeah. Now meanwhile, Tammy had a friend named Elvis. Remember, he dresses like Elvis, he does the switcheroo.

[00:46:43]  Trevor Long: It’s very good because he’s described earlier, his name is Elvis, he thinks he’s Elvis, he’s dressed like Elvis. And, and Ray gets out into this diner off the bus that he’s on, and then he goes into the bar and there’s this Elvis guy, turns around, he turns to the camera and you’re like, ah, this is where it’s happening, there’s Elvis!

[00:46:58]  Stephen Fenech: And he, uh, rushes him away from the FBI Meanwhile, Abby and Tammy begin copying thousands of documents in the Cayman Islands to prove the firm’s overbilling, but also the Moraltos’ money laundering. Yeah, so they’ve got a foot in both there. Tammy tells Mitch the files are on Tola’s Mac. Yes, she has the password. Yeah, so he gets in there, does that. Yep. Now the firm has realized now Mitch is a mole. Yes, he’s called into an office, but he receives a call from a Judge Terrence in inverted commas. Hello?

[00:47:36]  Movie Audio: Get out of there! They know! Get out! Do you hear what I said? Get out of there! Get over here now! Can you? I understand.

[00:47:57]  Stephen Fenech: So he’d just been called into a meeting. Mitch, can you come in here for a minute?

[00:48:01]  Trevor Long: And old Kakoon Man is standing right there as well.

[00:48:05]  Stephen Fenech: Kakoon Man. Devash is there as well. But what does he do? He does the bolt and a high stakes chase ensues.

[00:48:11]  Trevor Long: And you know, they’re like security shut the front doors. You think, how’s he gonna get out of here? But you remember, you don’t remember, but you realize there’s a cotton truck parked next to the building. He jumps out of a window onto the cotton truck. I mean, it’s—

[00:48:21]  Stephen Fenech: it worked out nice.

[00:48:21]  Trevor Long: It’s corny, but you’ll take it, you know.

[00:48:23]  Stephen Fenech: Worked out well for him. Yeah. Nice little trip through the streets of Memphis. He goes over to Mud Island and old albino man tries to chase you. Did you recognize that guy?

[00:48:32]  Trevor Long: No. Is he from like Die Hard? No, something like that.

[00:48:35]  Stephen Fenech: He was in a Seinfeld episode, as a matter of fact. Oh, he was too.

[00:48:38]  Trevor Long: Yeah, he was in the one where— but he didn’t have long hair. He had short hair. But he was— it’s a really weird name. And because Kramer is—

[00:48:47]  Stephen Fenech: he’s selling the vinyl records, remember? Him and Newman. And he goes, and, um, Kramer’s saying what he says to him, goes, “I loathe you.” And he goes, “I loathe you.” Remember he was doing that?

[00:48:59]  Trevor Long: Oh, I was thinking of a different character.

[00:49:00]  Stephen Fenech: He’s like, “Take your crap out, bring me something good and I’ll, uh, I’ll get out of here.” Fair enough. Anyway, he was in Seinfeld. Um, so Mitch is told by Terrence that the Maroltos are in town.

[00:49:13]  Trevor Long: And that name, that’s the name that was in all the boxes. So he’s thinking, okay, then.

[00:49:17]  Stephen Fenech: So he has to lay low for a couple of hours, and, uh, he decides then to maybe make his move later. Uh, he calls A. Banks in the Caymans to check on his brother. That was the plan, to get his brother over there. Uh, but he’s told, uh, a couple of things that he didn’t realize. A Banks, how are my friends?

[00:49:39]  Movie Audio: Okay, your brother’s on the plane and time Tami’s loading the ship now. It worked out.

[00:49:51]  Stephen Fenech: Your lawyer friend is dead. This is tola.

[00:49:54]  Movie Audio: He never was on the boat. He canceled the charter. Well, how did— He drowned in his bathtub after the lady left. Didn’t Tami tell you? What lady? How did you get the— I don’t know. A lady friend of Tammy slipped him some kind of Mickey Finn. I think it was somebody he knew. What are you talking about? What lady friend? Uh, when he walks in, Mitch is asking about your friend Abby. Isn’t that her name? Uh, Jen, she’s—

[00:50:30]  Stephen Fenech: oh no, shut up. So like, Tola drowned found in the bathtub. Now that wasn’t because of Abby.

[00:50:37]  Trevor Long: No, that’s because the old albino guy had arrived in town and killed him.

[00:50:40]  Stephen Fenech: So he dispatched him, right? Uh, so Mitch is then chased by—

[00:50:45]  Trevor Long: because, you know, albino guy— quietly, credit to Tola, he knows he’s gone, he knows they’re coming to get him, that he knows that he’s— it’s all given up. And but he doesn’t implicate Abby. He tells her the truth about the photos. Yeah. Uh, he tells her to get out. Yep. So he basically saves life.

[00:51:02]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah. Mitch is chased through the streets by Albino Guy and Devasher. And interestingly, where he goes into this little warehouse, or this basement in the building, and he’s seen through the glass, like his silhouette. Like Mitch drops his bag and hides up above the pipes. Yeah.

[00:51:18]  Trevor Long: And Albino Guy holds his bag, Devasher sees him as a silhouette and shoots him.

[00:51:23]  Stephen Fenech: Shoots him dead. And then he comes, jumps down onto Devasher and kicks him, puts the boot in and heads off. Now, in a brilliant maneuver here, Mitch meets the Maralto brothers. He gets there, he gets into their room and explains what’s happening and what he’s going to do.

[00:51:43]  Movie Audio: It seems that we, Bendini, Lambert, and Locke, the entire firm, has been engaged in a, well, a conspiracy. We’ve been Overbilling our clients. In some cases, massive overbilling. I assure you, I had no idea any of this was going on when I joined the firm. Well, I feel I have to report this criminal behavior. But I can’t use— I can’t use your invoices without your written authorization. Our invoices? Tony, please. Listen. Yes, sir. Your bills, you see, it’s an important part of the proof that we’ve overbilled you. That’s it? Pretty much. Well, most of our clients have already agreed. Well, pretty much all. Except for you. Which is why I’m here. And this is what? You’ve been talking to the FBI about? You want us to let you turn our bills, what we charged you, I should say overcharged you, over to the government? Yes, sir. Well, is that in any way— No, sir, it does not in any way waive your rights to full and complete confidentiality in any other area of the attorney-client relationship.

[00:53:10]  Stephen Fenech: He’s dispatched the firm, so sort of dobbed the firm him in.

[00:53:13]  Trevor Long: But, but old mate, old mate Mafia Boss is sitting there going, mate, what are you talking about?

[00:53:19]  Stephen Fenech: Explain how he knows everything about it.

[00:53:21]  Trevor Long: Yeah, because Mafia Guy’s like, mate, you were, you were raiding our files, you were copying our files, what’s going on?

[00:53:27]  Stephen Fenech: But what was this stealing of the files? What the fuck was this all about?

[00:53:32]  Movie Audio: The files haven’t been stolen, they’re in exactly the same place they were. I just The directors felt it was important for me to be thoroughly familiar with the precise makeup and whereabouts of all your holdings and activities. So I prepared copies of everything. That way you and I can communicate perfectly. And of course, if we ever have to talk to a third party, then I know everything. Down to the penny, pound, franc, and Deutschmark. Because they’re all offshore. I know everything you know.

[00:54:10]  Trevor Long: He mentions where the bank accounts are.

[00:54:14]  Movie Audio: As your attorney, and what if the firm should desire at some point to terminate your employment? Whatever I know, wherever I go, I am bound by the attorney-client privilege. I am very much like— I would say I am exactly like a ship carrying a cargo that will never reach any port. And as long as I’m alive, that ship will always be at sea.

[00:54:49]  Stephen Fenech: Very, so very cleverly, he said to him, look, I know everything about you, I’ve got the— don’t hurt me. Something happens to me, that’ll get to someone else. I’m out of here, you do your best. And he’s dobbed the firm in for overbilling, so he’s out clean. Yes.

[00:55:03]  Trevor Long: Yeah, he’s found the way. This is where we finally work out how he’s going to avoid witness protection but still get out of the firm and dob the firm in and not dob the firm in and stay on the good side of the mob.

[00:55:13]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah. So Mitch provides the FBI with enough evidence of mail fraud to take down the entire firm, which is not what they wanted, without technically breaking his privilege.

[00:55:23]  Movie Audio: You twist this into whatever you want. You made a deal to save your ass. You got our money, three-quarters of a million dollars of it. You’re still a hotshot lawyer, and you’re out of this. I didn’t keep a nickel of your money. It was always for somebody else. And yeah, I’m still a lawyer with references from Bendini, Lambert, and Locke. You want to put that on your resume? You think I’m ever going to turn on the ignition of my car again without sweating? I don’t understand you. What’d you do it for? You didn’t win a thing. Oh yeah, I did. I won my life back. You don’t run me and they don’t run me. You want to know something weird? I discovered the log and you actually made me think about it. I managed to get through 3 years of law school without doing that. She was a dog track.

[00:56:11]  Trevor Long: She’s the type. She’s the type. Why didn’t you?

[00:56:15]  Movie Audio: It’s against the law.

[00:56:17]  Stephen Fenech: He said, why did you go public?

[00:56:18]  Trevor Long: See, it’s against the law. It’s a really great little scene because he has no malicious intent towards this guy. So he gives him back the tape. He’s true to his word and he’s, you know, he’s an absolute stickler for the letter of the law. Yeah. Like it’s— and he set his brother up. It’s a final exposition of his character. Yeah. He’s got— he did what he wanted to do. And his brother fancy Tammy too.

[00:56:39]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:56:40]  Trevor Long: They sail away into the sunset.

[00:56:41]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah. Yeah. And now he and Abby leave.

[00:56:44]  Trevor Long: His brother doesn’t fancy anyone. Let’s be honest. He’s been in jail.

[00:56:47]  Stephen Fenech: Worked out for him. But the last scene is him and Abby leaving with the old car. Was that a Toyota Supra?

[00:56:56]  Trevor Long: It was like a Celica or something.

[00:56:57]  Stephen Fenech: It’s a Supra. And with the trailer, the U-Haul and sort of the opposite of the start, you know, driving in, they drove out of the old car.

[00:57:04]  Trevor Long: They left the way they came.

[00:57:05]  Stephen Fenech: Simple life, having outsmarted the FBI, the mob, and the firm.

[00:57:10]  Trevor Long: Very smart. Right, a few lines here, let’s get through them.

[00:57:14]  Stephen Fenech: Uh, Tolar, interesting little chat with his, uh, with Abby.

[00:57:19]  Movie Audio: I’m Avery Tolar. Ah, you’re the reason I see so little of my husband these days. He must be the most ambitious man in the world. One of them. No, I mean I mean, leaving you every day just to go off to work. Smoothie, eh?

[00:57:39]  Stephen Fenech: He’s always had it out for her. Uh, here is, uh, Lomax explaining himself.

[00:57:45]  Movie Audio: Mr. McDeer? Yes? I practically went to law school with you. Ray talked about you every stinking day for 3 years. I was his cellmate. He must have told you. He tell you, by the way, it was statutory rape? She was 17, looked 25.

[00:58:00]  Stephen Fenech: And this is, uh, your man Cocoon Man. Yeah, brother’s doing time.

[00:58:05]  Movie Audio: How did you find that out? What do you think I am here, a fucking night watchman? I get confused sometimes. Well, don’t.

[00:58:14]  Stephen Fenech: Right, how did that happen? I’ve got a plot hole, but, uh, or a couple of plot holes, but book v movie. Okay, all right, in the book it was different. Oh, the ending was different. Oh, in the book he stole money from the mafia, cooperated with the FBI, and ran away to the Caribbean with his wife and his brother. Oh, that’s the book ending. Spoiler alert if you want to read the book.

[00:58:39]  Trevor Long: So, okay, so he’s going to live a life on the run as a bookman. Yeah, um, in the library. When you watch this, do you go, hang on, are you like, hang on, what the hell?

[00:58:49]  Stephen Fenech: Yes, yes. I think, oh, that’s different. Yeah, but so you know what, but I didn’t mind that ending that they came up with him, that clever little plot to get the information, the overbilling. That was a completely movie-only, I guess, plot device.

[00:59:04]  Trevor Long: Like, I’ve got no dramas with that at all because if frankly, if it had ended the way the book went, yeah, I’d be going, well, the mafia is going to kill him in the Cayman Islands.

[00:59:11]  Stephen Fenech: Well, yeah, you’re thinking, well, there’s going to be another book. Yeah, and maybe another movie, but I think they want to wrap wrap it up. But fair enough. I don’t know, I didn’t mind the movie ending. The book was still satisfying. Uh, in the movie— in the book, Abby never discovers he cheated on him. She cheated—

[00:59:29]  Trevor Long: oh, that—

[00:59:30]  Stephen Fenech: in the book, cheated on her. Oh, right. But her character is more involved in the plot of taking down the firm and, um, and doing stuff behind the scenes. Interesting. Right here. In the book, the affair is, it’s there, but he doesn’t tell her, but she kind of thinks there’s something doing in the book. Yeah. And what the summary would be that the book was so much to do with the law and all the finer points of the law, whereas the movie made it more of an action movie, more of a thriller. Yeah. Which I think you need that.

[01:00:08]  Trevor Long: You gotta have that.

[01:00:09]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, uh, a plot hole here, or a couple of plot holes. One was when, um, the albino guy— like, Tola, we know, was drowned in the bathtub, right? Yeah. So how did albino guy get back to chase McGear in the next 10 minutes? Remember, he’s on the phone. He’s on the phone to him saying— remember, A-Bank says, oh, your lawyer friend died, uh, some guy they, you know, we don’t know, and you assume it’s him. And then 10 minutes later he’s chasing him through Memphis. Caymans is a couple-hour flight from Memphis. That’s one that we’re thinking, he must have like speed of light travel or something.

[01:00:47]  Trevor Long: But yeah, okay, I don’t know how that works. That’s a challenge.

[01:00:50]  Stephen Fenech: The other plot hole here too is all, you know, mistake is that, do you remember that scene where he comes back in the office and he goes, look, we need you to come in, in the whole firm is standing in there thinking, Jesus, he’s getting the bar Yeah, and then you find out, ah, we know you did second best on your exam. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bar results don’t list your individual score or your rank. You just passed or you failed. So you just pass or fail. And so results are also confidential. So unless— He would never—

[01:01:21]  Trevor Long: he would have had to find that first. They couldn’t have found that before him.

[01:01:24]  Stephen Fenech: They couldn’t have known before him.

[01:01:25]  Trevor Long: Although they have been known to bribe people, so maybe. That’s the counter to that. Oh, for sure.

[01:01:30]  Stephen Fenech: All right, Speaker Workout. Now I think the score was awesome. Did you notice too about the score? It was all on a piano. No other instrument. I didn’t expect that. Yeah, no other instrument. Dave Grusin was the composer. Okay. And he, as you said, sort of really created the really atmosphere of the whole film. Yeah, through that really, some bits of it. I really enjoyed it. Yeah, it was great.

[01:01:57]  Trevor Long: It was great because it kind of kept you going with it. Absolutely. I really enjoyed it.

[01:02:01]  Stephen Fenech: Thank God I got a big screen. Beautiful shots of the Cayman Islands. Also Memphis. Memphis is a pretty town as well.

[01:02:06]  Trevor Long: The diving, just those few moments they did the diving was gorgeous underwater footage. Absolutely, yeah.

[01:02:11]  Stephen Fenech: Now I’ve changed this next section. It was the business about the, you know, what happens with, you know, police force and everything. I changed this to the fact checker, this little section here, because When Mitch first meets Denton Voyles, you know, your man Stephen Hill from— Yeah. In this, in the— That’s him. Yep. He says they can’t, they can’t, you remember he says, why don’t you just get their records ready? He goes, we can’t, we need someone on the inside. Yeah. They can’t. But there are, in Tennessee and most states, articles of incorporation are filed with the state and are public. So they could have actually gone in, those records could have easily been accessed by the FBI.

[01:02:52]  Trevor Long: Depends how detailed the records they wanted.

[01:02:54]  Stephen Fenech: Well, they could have done more than what they were doing. Put it that way. Yeah, fair enough. The other thing they mentioned too is, do you remember when one of the things that they said, oh, I’m diving and I can’t fly within 24 hours? Yeah, that’s stated, but after a single non-compression dive, it’s okay to fly at high altitudes within 12 hours. 12 hours. Multiple non-compression dives or a series over several days in a row, 18-hour wait is recommended. Compression dives that require pauses for decompression on the way up, then 24-hour wait is recommended. Okay. So yeah, it’s different. Small plane flights like those that reach no more than a couple of thousand feet, a 2-hour wait is recommended. But better safe than sorry.

[01:03:39]  Trevor Long: I’ve never heard that before in my life, actually.

[00:01:03]  Movie Audio: Either.

[01:03:41]  Trevor Long: There you go. That’s a fact of life.

[01:03:42]  Stephen Fenech: Fact-checker. That’s, that’s how we might bring that in, bring that in periodically. Yep. Uh, if this movie was made today, I think it’d be a bit harder to hide his tracks and harder— maybe easier to find out certain bits of information, but harder to stay anonymous. There’d be a lot of—

[01:03:59]  Trevor Long: there’d be a lot more. He wouldn’t have got to see his brother.

[01:04:01]  Stephen Fenech: They would have tracked him. Security, like online security, would have made it harder too for him to get stuff.

[01:04:06]  Trevor Long: Um, internet would have made this a different movie Mate, if you think a password on a photocopy is going to challenge you, there’s going to be some more challenges right now. Maybe. Yeah.

[01:04:14]  Stephen Fenech: So yeah, I think it was— there had to be the link encrypted files, all that kind of stuff. It would be a bit more obstacles to get through. Yeah, 100%. Every day is a school day. What did you take as the theme or lessons here? Don’t cheat on your wife.

[01:04:30]  Trevor Long: That helps. But if you do, she might still help you out.

[01:04:35]  Stephen Fenech: That was a weird one. Yeah. Well, I think the whole illusion of success and corruption.

[01:04:41]  Trevor Long: Well, I think, but also there’s the— I think the big theme here is the whole, you don’t have to— like, her message, mate, just because you come from a poor home doesn’t mean you need to be a millionaire. That’s actually not what she wants. She just wants to be happy and loved. He could have been anything and she would have still been happy.

[01:04:59]  Stephen Fenech: Morals v. survival, sort of moral compromise. And also too, there’s It really highlighted the amount, and this is in the mid, early ’90s, the amount of surveillance that there’s around, like surveillance and control. And I imagine today, imagine what they’d have now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So all of that. And I think the whole, do you remember at the start how it was all amazing, sparkly thing and this dream job and all the trimmings and car and all that?

[01:05:28]  Trevor Long: And then suddenly scratch the surface and it’s an illusion.

[01:05:31]  Stephen Fenech: It’s an illusion. Yeah. Yeah, uh, best use of the pause button, mate. The LC2, did you see the computer he was using? No, I had that, I owned that computer at the same time as this movie came out. The LC2, the most popular Mac of its day. Uh, so yeah, it was, uh, exactly the same computer, the even the, the, the monitor. Yeah, I said that’s my computer. Things you might not not know. Holly Hunter, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, is on screen for a total of 5 minutes and 59 seconds. One of the shortest performances ever nominated for an Oscar. That’s wild.

[01:06:14]  Trevor Long: Yeah, she seems like she’s on for a lot more than that.

[01:06:16]  Stephen Fenech: It says here she’s in 20 scenes for an average of 18 seconds per scene. Wow. And they were— they really hit home. Yeah. Uh, there was also in some of the trailers, that’s what I love about some movies, even they released a trailer, it’s before the movie’s been locked, you know, the edit’s locked, and there’s some things that sneak into the trailer that don’t make the movie. Yeah. And in this case, The Firm, in the trailer it says, you know, you’re hearing about The Firm and how they don’t want lawyers to have family money. So they want them to be sort of, you know, battlers, middle class. They want them to be loyal to their source of income rather than loyal to their the family.

[01:06:53]  Trevor Long: Yeah, right, that makes sense.

[01:06:55]  Stephen Fenech: That doesn’t appear—

[01:06:55]  Trevor Long: that’s why it doesn’t appear in the movie.

[01:06:57]  Stephen Fenech: Um, this was the first of 3 films adapted from John Grisham novels that Gene Hackman would star in. Oh really? He also was in The Chamber in 1996, based on John Grisham’s book, and also John Grisham’s adaptation of, uh, Runaway Jury, 2003. Okay, yeah. Uh, did you notice— this is kind of a mistake, but I’ll put it in the did you notice— the scene where, remember, he comes early to study for the bar exam. Very early. If you look closely in the background, you’ll see the pictures of Kaczynski and Hodges already on the wall. Oh, whoops. They haven’t died yet. Yeah, right. Remember that little memorial they had there? They were there.

[01:07:36]  Trevor Long: They’re not dead yet. Yeah, okay.

[01:07:37]  Stephen Fenech: They probably walked in and go, hang on. Hey, whoa, whoa. What’s my picture?

[01:07:41]  Trevor Long: Why am I next to the two dead people? Hey, let’s go to the Caymans and dive.

[01:07:46]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, dead giveaway. What’s the meme? My first one would be Ed Harris’s line, “I’m going to kick your teeth down your throat, pull it out your ass.” Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:07:57]  Trevor Long: I just think Tom Cruise running after his wife.

[01:07:59]  Stephen Fenech: Running again. I’m your lawyer. He says that a lot. I’m your lawyer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can’t think of any others, but I’m sure the albino guy would figure in a few, wouldn’t it? He might, yeah. Yeah. I also like the scene. You could have made this into a meme when The investigator, remember, he grabs the gun, he goes, who are you talking to? And he goes, Julio Iglesias, and then he shoots him in the knee. Yeah. All right, oh, By Any Other Name.

[01:08:25]  Trevor Long: No, I love this name. Yeah, the firm.

[01:08:27]  Stephen Fenech: Or you could have called it The Lawyer. Is that a sexy— no, because— or call it Mitch McDeer. Mitch, it’s about them. It’s about the firm, mate. Another word that stuck out for me could have been in the name is privilege. Remember the client-attorney privilege? Yeah, privilege might have been something. Yeah, it might have been interpreted for something else. Uh, the one thing you want— I’ll take the LC2 back. Yeah, yeah, I’ll have that one.

[01:08:50]  Trevor Long: His Mercedes-Benz, take the Merc for sure.

[01:08:53]  Stephen Fenech: Uh, his pager. There’s one scene he had a pager. Yes. Yeah, and I would have also taken— remember at the start they gave him the offer in an envelope? That envelope.

[01:09:02]  Trevor Long: I’d take the mobile phone that they got the phone call at the dog track.

[01:09:05]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, that was And the tape that he gives him at the end as well of his recording. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 3 questions for Trev. Hit me. What happens to Mitch and Abby now? What do they do? Where do they go?

[01:09:16]  Trevor Long: Are they still together? He either opens his own little practice. He has a small practice. He works 9 to 5. Yeah. And family practice. They have kids. They live in the suburbs and they live a great life. ‘Cause that was the message that, that she was trying to convey to him that she doesn’t need him to be.

[01:09:35]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, she just wants a simple life.

[01:09:36]  Trevor Long: She wants a great life with him.

[01:09:39]  Stephen Fenech: Question 2: too long, too short, or just right?

[01:09:42]  Trevor Long: No, it was, it was long on the counter, but I got through it beautifully.

[01:09:46]  Stephen Fenech: Okay, because this is, this film, the longest running time of all the John Grisham film adaptations at 2 hours and 34 minutes. Yeah, you got through, you never thought that was too long?

[01:09:57]  Trevor Long: I knew it was too long.

[01:09:57]  Stephen Fenech: I reckon they could tighten it up a little.

[01:09:59]  Trevor Long: There’s definitely 10 minutes of time. Yeah, like the flips in the street scenes.

[01:10:03]  Stephen Fenech: There’s a minute. Question 3: sequel, prequel, or leave it alone?

[01:10:08]  Trevor Long: I was thinking as we’re getting to the end, there’s a potential sequel in this. So forget— so you know what the sequel’s called?

[01:10:16]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah. The Lawyer. Yeah. Which is Mitch McDeere.

[01:10:19]  Trevor Long: It’s just him in a family practice with his wife and there’s just a case he’s dealing with.

[01:10:24]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, a Netflix miniseries. Yeah, yeah, brilliant. Make it, make it like a— you could do that now, case by case.

[01:10:30]  Trevor Long: You could do that now. Yeah, Mitch.

[01:10:32]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, okay. All right, that’s good.

[01:10:34]  Trevor Long: That is actually good. Cool.

[01:10:35]  Stephen Fenech: All right, uh, that is The Firm. Uh, give us your wrap-up and rating, please. And I really enjoyed it.

[01:10:42]  Trevor Long: I, I feel like I could get into these John Grisham movies. Yeah, yeah.

[01:10:45]  Stephen Fenech: So not the books, the movies.

[01:10:47]  Trevor Long: No, no books at all. Forget reading the book, um, the movies are better. Um, yeah, no, and I, I liked it because, as I said earlier, it did it didn’t— it wasn’t obvious what was going to happen. Yeah, the story unfolded, it really unfolded well, and you learned a lot along the way. So that, that was great. And I think the cast really made it. Absolutely. You know, the depth of the cast really helped it.

[01:11:08]  Stephen Fenech: Well, this was, as I said, this was a pretty big deal, this, this production. And yeah, top to bottom, they spared no expense.

[01:11:14]  Trevor Long: For a 2.5-hour movie to not wash on me as a 2.5-hour movie is a big win. So it’s an 8.5 5 for me.

[01:11:20]  Stephen Fenech: Me too, exactly the same.

[01:11:21]  Trevor Long: 8.5. There it is, 8.5. Done.

[01:11:24]  Stephen Fenech: Boom. So let’s talk about next week. Different type of movie next week. Really? We are watching 10 Things I Hate About You. All right, this is the movie, not what I’m talking about.

[01:11:33]  Trevor Long: I was gonna say, is that just a new podcast?

[01:11:36]  Stephen Fenech: That would be a good idea. Uh, starring Heath Ledger.

[01:11:40]  Trevor Long: Yes, you get guests on.

[01:11:41]  Stephen Fenech: Yeah, and talk about what they hate, what they hate about you, just things you hate. Oh mate, we’ll have to put a pin in that. We have to get a couple sponsors first. Uh, starring Heath Ledger. Oh, and Julia Stiles. This was Heath Ledger’s first big American production. Okay, but the film, which is like set in a high school— oh, and interesting, was it Degrassi Junior High or something? No, the film was adapted from a Shakespeare play. What? It was. Okay, next week you’ll find out more. Is it— which play was it adapted from. Okay, okay. A, Taming of the Shrew. B, Twelfth Night. C, King Lear. Or D, Macbeth.

[01:12:24]  Trevor Long: Oh, come on, I’ve got no— I don’t know what any of those are, so I’ll go with Taming of the Shrew.

[01:12:29]  Stephen Fenech: And you are right. Yeah, good guess. Taming of the Shrew, it’s based on that. Like, the— really quickly, Taming of the Shrew tells the story of a father with two daughters, and one daughter has no interest in getting married or anything. The other daughter wants to find her mate and find a man and get married. And the father says, I’ll let you date when you— when she gets a girlfriend. So the one who’s not interested, he goes, I’ll let you go out with someone if you can get to find someone for her.

[01:12:58]  Trevor Long: Interesting.

[01:12:59]  Stephen Fenech: And so the movie is Heath Ledger— there’s a guy who fancies the sister, and he gets Heath to try to get, get close with the other sister so that he can go out with that one, right? So that’s the basis of the story. All right. And that’s the basis of Taming of the Shrew. And they’ve sort made it, set it in modern times.

[01:13:15]  Trevor Long: Well, before we go, I’ve— Claude’s been at work during the— I took the whole movie too, by the way, the whole podcast. But I can tell you now the number of appearances that actors have made. Ah, well, I can give you the top 10 actors. Okay, let’s go. Uh, in 10th is Ed Harris with 6. Of course, we’ve done 6 podcasts. Wow. Uh, Morgan Freeman, 6. Yep. Sylvester Stallone, 6. Bruce Willis, 6. Yep. Matt Damon, 7. Al Pacino, 7. Yep. Tom Hanks, 8. Michael Douglas, 8. 8. Yeah. Number 2 is Robert De Niro, 10. Oh yeah, of course. And number 1 is Tom Cruise with 13 appearances. 13 appearances including this one, or is that 14? I know that would be 14.

[01:13:50]  Stephen Fenech: That’d be 14 now. Wow, that’s really good. So there you go, that’s great information. That’s our top 10. That is excellent. We’re glad you enjoyed The Firm, but please join us next week, Tripp. See you then.

[01:14:00]  Trevor Long: See you then.