After
watching Thelma and Louise, I knew my day wasn’t over until I saw The
Client again. This is a movie that cemented Susan Sarandon in my memory as
a great actress. It’s one of her best films, alongside Dead Man Walking (1995), Thelma
and Louise (1991), and Stepmom (1998) (not in that
order). In this movie, she plays a role that suits her perfectly—she has to
earn a child’s trust and then use that trust to save the child and his family’s
life.
Based on John
Grisham’s novel of the same name, the movie also stars veteran actor Tommy Lee
Jones. It earned Susan Sarandon another nomination for Best Actress at the
Academy Awards (in her career, she’s been nominated five times and won once
for Dead Man Walking). For her performance in this movie as a mother
figure and a caring lawyer, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a
Leading Role.
Here’s how the
movie plays out: A young family—a mother and her two sons—lives in a trailer.
While the mother is at work, the boys go to play in the woods. Near a stream, a
car pulls up. The driver doesn’t see the boys, but they see him. They watch as
he gets out of the car, sticks a hose in the exhaust, and gets back in with the
hose leading into the car window, hoping the fumes will kill him.
Mark eventually
gets the upper hand and escapes, but the driver later commits suicide. Now, the
FBI is all over Mark, as evidence shows he was in the car. They want to know
where the body is buried, but Mark claims he doesn’t know.
Fearing for his
life, Mark seeks out a lawyer, Reggie Love (Susan Sarandon). She takes his case
for a dollar, and throughout the process, her motherly instincts kick in. She
struggles to balance being there for the young man as a caretaker and
representing him as his lawyer.
The Client is
a great legal thriller from the ’90s, one that many will forever cherish. I
believe you’ll enjoy this flick, whether you’re seeing it again or for the
first time.
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