What do you think your life would be like after 10 years of hiding from the mob? I ask because the question deals with one of the central character motivations of new NBC legal thriller The Firm, based on the famous John Grisham novel. You'd probably be tired of running, with a desire to finally put down some roots -- especially if you had a kid. Apparently you might even think it's been so long, maybe the mob will have forgotten all about you. I mean, all you did was destroy one the most profitable facets of its organization and put the Boss in prison (where he eventually died). No biggie. But I'll get to that later.
The Firm's two-hour series premiere, which debuted Sunday (subsequent episodes will air on Thursdays starting this week), began with a typical pilot-esque cold opening: The main character, Mitchell McDeere (Josh Lucas), running for his life from would-be harm-doers through the tourist attractions of Washington, D.C. (even knocking a tour guide down in the process -- those guys never get any respect). Mitch cleverly evaded his pursuers by running across a pond in front of the Capitol, ruining his shoes in the process (I guess bad guys have more respect for their attire?), and hopping onto a truck. He then called his wife *cue the camera panorama* Abby (the beautiful Molly Parker) from pay phone (?), telling her, "It's happening again." He pleaded with her to go to their prearranged emergency plan spot, but before he could meet her, he would have to see "somebody who knows the truth." It was all quite intentionally vague, but we soon found out the guy Mitch had to see was mixed up in the murder of a woman and the conspiracy that surrounds it. All this had something to do with Mitch's client, but before Mitch can get any more info, there was an unceremonious knock on the door -- the bad guys had tracked him down! The client was none too pleased about this development and thought it better to check out early.
If you're not a Grisham fan, the opening might have left you a little confused. But the convolution was quickly cleared up with the aid of a few grayish-blue-tinged revisionist flashbacks. We learned that 10 years have elapsed since the time of the novel/movie, which ended with Mitch handing his mob-controlled firm over to the Feds on a silver platter. And even though Mitch was warned by the FBI that the mob boss's son could put another hit out on him, he decided to come out of hiding to set up his own practice in Washington, D.C. (brilliant move).
After only a few months, Mitch was struggling. Even with the help of his faithful secretary/assistant, Tammy Hemphill, and his P.I. brother, Ray McDeere (BSG alum Callum Keith Rennie), he was barely getting by. This left him open to an offer by his lawyer basketball buddy, Andrew Palmer, to join his glamorous, affluent firm of Kinross and Clark. To everybody who has read the book or seen the movie, were you getting a strange sense of déjà vu at this moment? Mitch probably should have figured out by now that accepting an amazing offer from a firm that's too good to be true is not the best idea. But hey, The Firm is the name of the show, so what are you gonna do? During their visit, the McDeeres were charmed by Kinross and Clark's progressive architectural design and of course the managing partner, Alex Clark (Tricia Helfer -- BSG reunion, baby!)
As Mitch mulled over this very appealing offer, he had his own case to deal with: That of a 14-year-old boy accused of murdering a schoolmate. But I'm not going to delve into detail, because it felt like a recycled storyline I've seen dozens of times on other legal dramas. Mitch was forced to wrest with moralistic compromises, while in the end upholding his integrity -- blah blah blah. Not riveting stuff.
Near the end of the episode, after a big settlement he was counting on fell through, Mitch agreed to form an association with Kinross and Clark. Cut to a darkened boardroom with the seedy partners -- it's amazing what a change of lighting can do! They discussed the REAL reason they hired Mitch. If at this point you were saying, "What! The firm is corrupt? I never would have guessed!" you are probably the only one. We discovered the only reason Kinross and Clark hired Mitch had to do with a case he was assigned earlier in the episode. The client was Sarah Holt, and she was charged with murdering a 71-year-old woman in her sleep. Apparently there's more to it than we know, because the partners seemed pretty freaked out by the possibility of Mitch getting to the bottom of it. They decided to give Mitch the CIA treatment: bugs in his phones, computers, and copy machines, with 24/7 surveillance on the side (I'm getting that déjà vu feeling again). But here's the kicker: The client they were trying to protect (along with themselves) was none other than... the guy from the opening scene!
To be quite honest, the premiere really dragged at times. And Mitch's decision to leave witness protection was nothing short of baffling. Here we have an intelligent lawyer who finished at the top of his Harvard class deciding to open up a law practice in the nation's capital, while using his real name! He has seen firsthand what the mob is capable of, but thinks 10 years is enough time. What's that axiom? Oh yeah, "The mafia never forgets." Mitch should read less tort reform texts and more Mario Puzo. Compared to legal dramas like The Good Wife and Damages, The Firm seems somewhat bland and derivative. Keeping in mind this was only the premiere, I suppose liking this show may depend on how much you enjoy watching legal procedurals, but for an opening argument, I found the premiere lacking.
Questions:
... Look really closely at the first picture. Does anyone else think that is a stunt double? (If so, Tom Cruise, Josh Lucas is not!)
... What's the deal with Sarah Holt? And how could her case land the firm's partners in prison?
... To the fans of the book and movie, were you a little disappointed?
... How many of you plan to tune in this Thursday for the next episode?
Ed. note: You may have noticed the new-to-TV.com byline on this story. Well, it only SEEMS new: Michael Robertson is perhaps better-known around these parts as one Arch_Angel88, commenter extraordinaire. He's been so funny and insightful over the last several months that we've asked him to give writing a shot. Let's all congratulate Michael on his first post!
I quite like the show. I hope it returns to a linear format without all the flashbacks and stuff.
NBC is normally off limits to me I have watched a few shows Lipstick Jungle Medium (jump to CBS) Heroes(gave up in middle of s3) Surface , currently I'm watching Parenthood, I gave the firm a try I dvr'd is watched Thursday after work before prime time , and I just loved it great first episodes this show will survive
Because the 2 hour debut was held on a different day than the series now occupies, my PVR didn't record episode 3. Damn!
I think the show will survive.
Nice to see good Canadian actors in strong roles. I'll just highlight Molly Parker as one of them.
I will give The Firm a chance. Time slot is bad as The Mentalist is on the same time. I will TIVO it and see how it plays out.
Why is everything always on Sunday night? What happened to Saturday nights?
When will networks learn not to air new shows until the regulars on other channels are on hiatus. Firm was up against returning AXMen and Desp. Housewives and whatever CBS has on Sundays. There is nothing on Fridays at Nine Central [until Haven comes back]. Everything good is all at 8 my time zone. lol There is your window! Oh wait, 20/20 is still going strong. Try Saturdays. rerun city except HGTV and A/E.
OMG Arch_Angel88!!!! I was wondering where in the world you were, cause I haven't seen you commenting much lately; guess you were busy writing this review, KUDOS to you!!!
Great job on this, although I also think the pilot and story unravelling was kinda slow and a bit dragged, I liked it, maybe I'm kust a little bias because I absoloutely ADORE Josh Lucas (he looks like a 40 year old version of my hubby <3 hehe), but anyways, I'll give it another shot next week, hoping it gets better, we'll see...
CONGRATZ again!!!!
Every time I read a review or article on here and think of something to write, I read through the comments and Arch_Angel88 has usually already said what I wanted to say, only a thousand times better. So instead of writing anything, I give my Thumbs Up. It happened so often and in such an eloquent way, I thought to myself - why don't they ask this guy to write for them?? Well, they did. And he did. And here's my big Thumbs Up. :) Excellent work, Michael. Your writing style, intelligence and wit belie your youth (to which you actually referred in one of your comments several months ago). Looking forward to reading much, much more from you in the future!
Now is YOU who has stolen my words and wrote was I was thinking... lol
hey, if someone was to "promote" among us, the mortal beings, to the "Olympus", it was definitely you (I also have hopes for Taccado following your steps), so this was pretty well deserved, congrats.. Just to point out one single thing hoping to be accepted as a feedback is that, please use your wits and usual sense of writing/responding in these articles; I read it all the way as if belonged to Tim or Price (more likely Tim I guess, Price has a way of using extensive visual material:D) and that means you write like a pro but it needs just a little bit of personalized tone to spice it up.. other than that, this could have been the best first review ever..
and, no I am not going to follow this show -the premise of a lawyer deciding to leave wit protection without any solid reason, sounded pretty loose to begin with.. grisham stuff suits movies better than series..moreless
Downloaded free on itunes, will have to check it out and see
First, awesome to Arch_Angel88. I, like so many others, hope this doesn't refrain from commenting on other stories, but AWESOME review! It was so perfect and to the point and though I had originally planned on tuning in to see if the novel/movie had a decent ending, well, I have to say, glad I missed it. My question is, didn't he make it so he could still use his name at the end of the movie? I'm not positive, I'm just curious. I know the end of the book he was sailing around the Caribbean. Which, seriously, why would you give that up? Who cares about roots when you have millions and warmth and sunshine? And a beach, don't let me forget the beach. Oh, and rum.
Sincere congratulations on your "promotion." It's certainly well deserved (IMO).
I've thanked so many people, there's some who might feel I'm being disingenuous. But darn it, when someone pays you a compliment, I was raised to say thank you.
So . . . Thank you!
Yay!! (Not in regards to The Firm though)
Nice one Arch, You have Thanked so many people, cause you're Canadian and polite. We all fit the stereotype c'mon. Woot Canada.
Haha! You are so right. We probably should have incorporated our reverence for politeness in our national anthem. And before I forget, Thank you!
Awesome. Michael is my role-model.Note to self: write more on this site. Congrats Michael
I know right, if I knew bashing on Price and posting ALOT on this site could get me a job I'd have been more active too. :-)
Thanks! If it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody.
Congratulations, Michael.
Thank you. Any recognition from the Queen of Captions must be cherished.
You're welcome. Thank you for the kind words.
Congrats Arch_Angel88. I just hope your new duties don't take away from your pressing comments otherwise I won't know how to get through my day, but seriously you do look just like Larry David, right?
Also yeah this show looks like boring made confusing do terrible things to it...and then napped.
Thank you! I think I've thanked like 20 people on this forum. You're all just so pleasantly positive.
I don't know how much you visit TV.com, but the past few days I have definitely been guilty of not reaching my commenting quota. This unforgivable lapse will be remedied, I promise.
I'll be writing a review for the season finale of Hell on Wheels this Sunday and my airbrushed photo will be included. Forewarning: My appearance may shock you!
boring to say the least....
atleast it gave arch, um, michael the opportunity to pan it...congratulations!
From the little I saw I found it dull.
Just as the show started, I had to clean up a spill, so I was only able to see bits and pieces of the opening. So, the big reveal towards the end wasn't that big of a deal, for me. I was more like, "Who the heck are you?" than "Wow, it's that guy!" And, honestly, I don't really understand why Ms Holt is that big of deal to the company, either. Oh well, that's what the rest of the series is for, to explain things to me... and the other viewers, too.
While I did get confused, at times, I did like the show. The great cast (especially Callum Keith Rennie and Juliette Lewis) and the family drama made the series a show to keep on my radar.
Enjoyed the pilot. Will no doubt have lots of twists and turns in the coming months. I'll be checking in for the next episodes!
The best two hours of any given Sunday. I liked it a lot as did all my family and friends.
This really sucked! If NBC can't remake old successful TV shows (Charlie's Angels and such) , what makes them think they can follow up on an great Book/Movie. The most this show can accomplish is to make people read/re-read the book or/and watch/re-watch the movie (1993) and realize how extremely bad this show is in comparison! I did and I am glad I re-watched the movies. Thanks NBC!
I went into watching this not recalling the movie very well, and having never read the book. So, my opinion will be that of a total newbie to the story line. Like a lot of other viewers I suspect.
The opening scene grabbed your attention right away. Then it slid into a very dull area. I'm saying things need to blowing up or guns need to be fired to make a show interesting. But if the background is so important to the show, why wasn't more of that seen and so much time was wasted with the cutesy family stuff? They made it clear that this lawyer is a good man, getting tangled up in gray areas. Then enter the Vadar law firm. Setting up a "David/Goliath" type of setting.
I hope it improves. I'll wait and see. But given that it's on NBC, I fully expect it to be canceled at the end of season 1.moreless
I liked it. Primarily because I'm a big fan of Josh Lucas, Callum Keith Rennie and Juliet Lewis. I also think the wife is pretty charismatic. Though I did wonder, just as Michael did, about the wisdom of leaving the Witness program, and the revelation that the Mob is now hot on his tail. It's as if all the tension in the show is a result of an idiotic mistake by a brilliant lawyer. Doesn't seem rational for a smart procadural.
So I'm hoping the machinations at the Firm will elevate the tension to a righteous level, with the Mob just a nuisance distraction when the heavy drama goes down. Like that opening sequence. Typical pilot opening though it may have been (wish I was lucky enough to see more pilots like that), it racheted up the intensity level nicely. Hope we see more like that...moreless
I watched the show's premiere after reading about it here (including the comments) and to be frankly honest I was judgemental right from the start.....so like everyone else I didn't like the show in the beginning, but I stuck with it and the best part for me was the iconic oscillation that the judge made during his decision (and that really interesting speech)......that kind of sums up the whole episode as well....there are like two major parallel stories that are going to run its course during this season which will intersect sometime in the future or past, I don't know ( 'cause they have just skewed up the timeline just like facebook).
I believe that the mob angle is going to be really tough to handle (both for writers and viewers). On top of that, I am hoping that the writer's don't try to be extra smart and put something else in the show or it might end up becoming a bone stuck in your throat.
All in all, would love to see this one flourish but won't cross my fingers for it. Seriously!!!! (yes, I put in 4 exclamations)moreless
Great work Arch_Ang... er... I mean Michael! Good to see one of us lesser beings can make the step-up!
Your review is spot-on by the way. I've recently been watching The Practice and it was far superior to this - although, like some others have said, it might improve beyond the pilot, many shows do! The writing was very by-the-numbers, nothing included was particularly unique. The casting was pretty good (except maybe Lewis), which makes the characters a little more intolerable. If they had been writen well then the pilot would have had a massive plus in its favor, but none of them were particularly interesting (except may the PI brother - ably played by Rennie).I'll probably give it the 4 episode test but a legal has to be good to keep me interested (like Suits).moreless
+1 for the lesser beings!
Suits is probably my favorite legal procedural. It's so good, you don't even care that it's got a case-of-the-week format. And Harvey Spector is like a modernized Don Draper. Such a good show. Can't wait 'til it comes back in the summer.
It began well, it ended good but between the two it was just bad. The procedural part was horrible, boring and cheesy. A lot of things were just not plausible such as Diane going from ADA to shrink (for a dude who wants to kill a kid that haven't been trialed yet !) or the dude inviting McDeere (his son's killer's attorney) to his son's funeral (I mean, there are better ways to thank people than by inviting us to a funeral... you know, bad signs and all...).
Also, they tried to suggest tension when there isn't any : like when McDeere is with the Judge and that he turns around to see his client. There are "suspense" music and weird eye-balling like the kid is supposed to mean something to McDeere (someone he knows was my assumption). But he doesn't... he's just a client.
I don't understand how could this be a procedural. The pilot we've seen suggests that there will be cases of the week but that seems just not fitting with the pace of a thriller (which is The Firm-movie) which would include a constant chase like we saw in the opening and finale scenes. I really hope this doesn't turn into a legal procedural because for me, it's not the interest of the story (again : thriller !).
Last thing : I thought McDeere was a finance lawyer (yes I did watch the movie this week-end). Why is he suddenly a criminal lawyer ?
Last last thing : Congrats to you Arch/Micheal. You do have the TV.com style which consists to notice tiny but relevant things : why the hell the bad guy did not cross the pound as well ? The best of the situation is that right before crossing it, McDeere make a pause like he's about to do something risky and stunt-y (usual action/thriller-movie thing) : just hilarious.moreless
Haha! I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed the ridiculousness of that scene.
Arch_Angel88 (aka Michael), congrats from a fellow Canuk. Looking forward to hearing more from you! Just promise you won't start acting like Price. You remember that Homeland fiasco? I will never forgive him.
Yeah, Price and I had it out over that Homeland fiasco. But it's hard to stay mad at that guy. Thanks for the congrats!
Congrats, Arch. I posted a comment 2-3 weeks ago that TV.com should hire you and I guess they listened :P I have not checked out The Firm yet...I'm trying my best to limit what I watch since my TV schedule is crazy..I'll probably check it out if I hear it gets better..Thurs/Sundays are also pretty packed with quality shows
You deserve all the credit. I think that post singlehandedly got me this writing gig.
Pfft...I'm not actually trying my best.
It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I thought it would be better before early reviews came out so going in to it I wasn't expecting much. I'm going to give it a few episodes but it needs to get A LOT better.. Fast, but by then NBC will probably have canceled it.
Hey Michael, where's your official-staff-member photo? No one must be allowed to write for TV.com without baring their appearance to the world. All that we know so far is that you probably bear a striking resemblance to Larry David. It's just not enough, dammit.
You'll see my real picture this coming Monday. I'm basically Larry David's clone, so it won't be much of a surprise.
Fantastic!!!
Since I'm assuming '88 is your birth year, I'd say you should go buy some bleach now or it won't be much of a resemblence after all? ;)
Damn! Your Sherlock-ian deductive skills thwarted my blatant attempt at misdirection. I was indeed born in '88. But who's to say I still don't look like Larry David??? - *cue X-Files music*