the pelican brief

Director: alan j. pakula

Actor: julia roberts,denzel washington,sam shepard,john heard

Data Published: Fri Sep 17 1993

Genres: Crime,Drama,Mystery,Thriller

Key Words: aerial camera shot,murderess,swiss bank account,college lecture,hotel room

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107798/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pelican_Brief_(film)

Description: The Pelican Brief is a movie starring Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, and Sam Shepard. A law student uncovers a conspiracy, putting herself and others in danger.

Plot: After two Supreme Court justices are killed by an assassin named Khamel, Tulane University law student Darby Shaw writes a legal brief detailing her theory on why they were killed. She gives the brief to her law professor Thomas Callahan, who in turn gives a copy to Gavin Verheek, special counsel to the Director of the FBI. Callahan is killed by a car bomb; Darby manages to avoid the same fate and is subsequently attacked by an unknown assailant. Realizing that her brief was accurate, she goes into hiding and reaches out to Verheek for assistance. An informant calling himself Garcia contacts Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham with information about the assassinations, but suddenly disappears. Darby contacts Grantham, who finds her information is accurate. Darby's computer, disks, and files disappear from her home, where she is again attacked but manages to escape. She contacts and agrees to meet Verheek, but Khamel kills Verheek and impersonates him at the meet. Before Khamel can kill Darby, he is shot and killed by an unknown person. Darby agrees to meet Grantham in New York City, where she shares the theory expressed in her brief: the assassinations were done on behalf of oil tycoon Victor Mattiece, who intends to drill for oil on Louisiana marshland that is habitat for an endangered species of brown pelicans. A court appeal to deny Mattiece the drilling rights is expected to reach the Supreme Court. Darby has surmised that Mattiece, hoping to turn the case in his favor, is behind the justices' murders, given their history of environmentalism. When Grantham tells her about Garcia, they discover that the man is Curtis Morgan, a lawyer in the oil and gas division at the Washington, DC law firm of White & Blazevich. Darby visits White & Blazevich, pretending to have an appointment with Morgan, and is told he had been killed. Suspecting that his murder was related to the incriminating information, she and Grantham visit his widow who gives them a key to a safe deposit box. Darby visits the bank to retrieve the contents of the box. After barely escaping death by a car bomb, they reach the Washington Herald building where they review the documents and a videotape recovered from Morgan's box. The tape confirms Darby's theory, as Morgan's documents prove his own discovery that Mattiece ordered the assassination of the Justices. With this evidence, Grantham writes his story. He gives the FBI a chance to comment and FBI Director Voyles confirms that Darby's "Pelican Brief" was delivered to the White House. He reveals the President ordered the FBI to "back off", and that the CIA is investigating Mattiece, with one of them killing Khamel to save Darby's life. A plane is arranged for Darby to flee the country. Darby is watching a TV interview of Grantham where it is revealed that Mattiece and two partners at White & Blazevich have been indicted in federal court, the President's chief of staff has resigned, and the President (who received $4.2 million in contributions from Mattiece) will not run for office again. Grantham deflects speculation that Darby is fictional, but does agree that she is "almost" too good to be true. Darby smiles.