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The Client (1994)



The Client (1994)



7/10



Starring
Susan Sarandon
Tommy Lee Jones


Directed by Joel Schumacher


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.


The eldest boy, Mark, tries to stop the man by pulling out the hose. This leads to the man catching him, dragging him into the car, and punching him. The man then starts spilling his guts about why he wants to kill himself—it’s because he knows the location of a dead body.

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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