The Client (1994)

	Directed by: Joel Schumacher	COUNTRY USA GENRE Thriller NORWEGIAN TITLE Klienten RUNNING TIME 116 minutes
	Produced by: Arnon Milchan Steve Reuther
	Written by (based on the novel by John Grisham): Akiva Goldsman Robert Getchell

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Reggie Love	Susan Sarandon
Roy Foltrigg	Tommy Lee Jones	½
Dianne Sway	Mary-Louise Parker
Barry ‘the Blade’ Muldano	Anthony LaPaglia	½
McThune	J. T. Walsh	½
Clint Von Hooser	Anthony Edwards	-
Mark Sway	Brad Renfro	½
Sergeant Hardy	Will Patton	½
Dr. Greenway	William H. Macy	½

Review

Joel Schumacher was never the most subtle of storytellers. He tends to resort to archetypes and overdramatizations for effect, and this film about a hard-nosed 11-year-old trailer park kid who witnesses a suicide in the woods and finds himself stuck in a tug-of-war between government officials and the mob is no exception. Although this narrative style may have been less conspicuous in the midst of the 1990s style of filmmaking, today it comes off as glaring and – not least – totally unnecessary. This story doesn't need Schumacher's "help" to seem powerful; it's got all the ingredients of a tight and effective thriller as it is, complete with an attractive human factor to boot. Susan Sarandon helps save several scenes and reminds us that this really is all about a kid in an unbearable predicament, something not many of Schumacher's other larger-than-life characters seem to pay much attention to. Of course, they're caricatured for a reason (genre conventions and Hollywood are words that spring to mind), and in the formula that it tries to fit, The Client is as polished and well made as intended. Tommy Lee Jones seems to have seen through it all and decided to have a little fun with his part. J. T. Walsh, Anthony Edwards and William H. Macy are other fine performers in underdeveloped parts.