The Pelican Brief

The Pelican Brief

The Pelican Brief is a 1993 legal crime thriller based on the novel of the same name by John Grisham. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film stars Julia Roberts in the role of young law student Darby Shaw and Denzel Washington as Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham. Music was composed by James Horner. Two Supreme Court justices are assassinated by the terrorist Khamel . Tulane University Law School student Darby Shaw suspects the real motive might be simple greed, not politics. She writes a legal brief, and shows it to her law professor, mentor and lover Thomas Callahan . He gives a copy ...
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quick facts
Release date:1993
Directed by:Alan J. Pakula
Rated:PG-13 (USA)
Runtime:141 Minutes
Producer:Alan J. Pakula, Pieter Jan Brugge
Music by:James Horner
Cinematography:Stephen Goldblatt
Screenplay by:Alan J. Pakula
Adapted from:The Pelican Brief
Genre:Thriller, Action

Cast of The Pelican Brief

Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci
Khamel
Born:November 11, 1960
Age:51
John Heard
John Heard
Born:March 7, 1945
Age:67
John Lithgow
John Lithgow
Born:October 19, 1945
Age:66
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Thomas Callahan
Born:November 5, 1943
Age:68
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Gray Grantham
Born:December 28, 1954
Age:57
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Darby Shaw
Born:October 28, 1967
Age:44

Honors and Awards

YearAward Nomination
1994 MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Male, Denzel Washington
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Film director of The Pelican Brief

Alan J. Pakula
Alan J. Pakula
Born: April 7, 1928
Died: November 19, 1998
Education: Yale University

Alan Jay Pakula was an American film director, writer and producer noted for his contributions to the conspiracy thriller genre. Pakula started his Hollywood career as an assistant in the cartoon department at Warner Brothers. In 1957, he undertook his first production role for Paramount Pictures....
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TitleReleasedRatedGenre
The Devil's Own 1997 R (USA) Action
The Pelican Brief 1993 PG-13 (USA) Thriller
Consenting Adults 1992 R (USA) Thriller
Presumed Innocent 1990 R (USA) Thriller
See You in the Morning 1989 PG-13 (USA)
Orphans 1987 R (USA)
Dream Lover 1986 R (USA) Thriller
Sophie's Choice 1982 R (USA)
Rollover 1981 R (USA) Thriller
Starting Over 1979 R (USA) Comedy
Comes a Horseman 1978 PG (USA) Western
All the President's Men 1976 PG (USA) Thriller
The Parallax View 1974 R (USA) Thriller
Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing 1973 PG (USA)
Klute 1971 R (USA) Thriller
The Sterile Cuckoo 1969
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Music contributors for The Pelican Brief

James Horner
James Horner

James Roy Horner is an American composer, orchestrator and conductor of orchestral and film music. He is noted for the integration of choral and...
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Filming locations for The Pelican Brief

New Orleans
New Orleans

New Orleans is the birthplace of Jazz, a major US port city, important in river transshipment, naval logistics, and the illegal drug trade. New Orleans is located at the mouth of the Mississipi River, just south of where the river splits off into Lake Pontchartrain, which forms the northern city...
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Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a federal district to become the national capital as permitted by...
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The Pelican Brief
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