John Grisham is a prominent novelist well known for his legal thrillers. While he remains quite successful now, his arguable pinnacle was in the 1990s, when his novels flew off the shelves and film versions of his works were published virtually every year.
While there hasn’t been a Grisham picture since 2004, all of these oldies are still quite outstanding; nonetheless, which of them is the best?
This list consists of john Grisham books, Tommy lee jones, john Grisham movies, john Grisham’s third novel, Julia Roberts, Chris Columbus, Robert Altman, John Grisham’s bestseller, and Sandra bullock.
12. The Rainmaker (1997)
- IMDB rating – 7.2
- Rotten Tomato rating – 78%
- Director- Francis Ford Coppola
- Writer-John Grisham
- Cast-Matt Damon · Danny DeVito · Claire Danes · Jon Voight · Mary Kay Place · Dean Stock well · Teresa Wright · Virginia Madsen.
The Rainmaker, directed by Oscar winner Francis Ford Coppola and starring Matt Damon and Danny DeVito as a lawyer and paralegal, respectively, who stumbles onto the case of a lifetime, is arguably the greatest of the numerous Grisham film adaptations. Despite their inexperience, they are obliged to take on a strong defense team in order to win their case.
In “The Rainmaker,” a stylish and wonderfully well-acted john Grisham movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Matt Damon plays a young lawyer who discovers the hard way that ambulance chasing is a financial necessity. Jon Voight, Mickey Rourke, and Danny DeVito steal every scene they can, and the emphasis on Damon’s daily effort to establish his feet is both amusing and compelling.
The only issue is the film’s primary plot, which is an idealistic and traditional courtroom drama about a dishonest insurance firm that plays out precisely as expected and frequently distracts the death penalty from the film’s greatest and most innovative stuff.
11. The Client (1994)
- IMDB rating– 8.6
- Rotten Tomato rating– 80%
- Director-Joel Schumacher
- Writer-John Grisham
- Cast-Susan Sarandon · Tommy Lee Jones · Mary-Louise Parker · Anthony LaPaglia · J.T. Walsh · Anthony Edwards · Brad Renfro · Will Patton.
The Client, a dramatic legal thriller about an eleven-year-old kid who, by coincidence, becomes the only person who can lead the police to a hidden body, was a great critical and box office hit in 1994.
The film received critical acclaim for its performances, timing, and direction, and it presently has a 78 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
10. The Firm (1993)
- IMDB rating– 7.3
- Rotten Tomato rating– 68%
- Director-Sydney Pollack
- Writer-John Grisham
- Cast-Tom Cruise · Jeanne Tripplehorn · Gene Hackman · Hal Holbrook · Terry Kinney · Wilford Brimley · Ed Harris · Holly Hunter.
The Firm, starring Tom Cruise as a guy who finds the picturesque Firm where he works harboring a murderous secret, was the first of several Grisham film adaptations.
It’s been 25 years since “The Firm” sped into cinemas, exposing fans to John Grisham’s powerful storytelling style. The popularity of “The Firm” attracted some of the greatest directors of the decade, transforming sophisticated dramas into blockbusters and winning many Oscar nominations.
Although the flood of Grisham adaptations finally faded down, they helped define a film office period. So let’s take a look at every feature-length film based on a Grisham story to determine which ones are masterpieces and which ones should be avoided.
9. Runaway Jury (2003)
- IMDB rating– 7.6
- Rotten Tomato rating– 71%
- Director-Gary Fleder
- Writer-John Grisham
- Cast-John Cusack · Nicholas Easter; Rachel Weisz · Marlee; Gene Hackman · Rankin Fitch; Dustin Hoffman · Wendell Rohr; Bruce Davison · Durwood Cable.
In many respects, Gary Fleder’s underappreciated Grisham adaption is the most enjoyable adaptation of the author’s material. Gene Hackman portrays a jury fixer hired to sway the outcome of a high-profile 2nd Amendment case, while John Cusack plays a scheming juror who decides to sell the decision to the highest bidder.
The video effectively blends current skepticism about the judicial system with a positive message about how the law should operate. It is unexpected, intelligent, and shockingly hilarious. Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz round out the great cast.
Runaway Jury covers a high-stakes court struggle in which any side may win if they pay Marleen, a jury member who believes she can persuade the other 11 to deliver whatever result she wants.
Critics lauded the picture for its acting, direction, and suspense, and despite being a box office flop, it presently has a good 73 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
8. A Time To Kill (1996)
- IMDB rating- 8.8
- Rotten Tomato rating– 82%
- Director-Joel Schumacher
- Writer-John Grisham
- Cast-Matthew McConaughey · Jake Tyler Brigance; Sandra Bullock · Ellen Roark; Samuel L. Jackson · Carl Lee Hailey; Kevin Spacey · D.A. Rufus Buckley.
A Time To Kill is a 1996 courtroom thriller that follows Jake Brigance, a lawyer who seeks to defend the innocence of his well-known client, Carl Lee Hailey, who murdered his daughter’s abductors.
In a profoundly racist southern town, Samuel L. Jackson murders the men who raped his daughter, and it’s up to young lawyer Matthew McConaughey (in his breakout role) to win him a fair trial. “A Time to Kill,” as directed by Joel Schumacher, is undoubtedly Grisham’s most operatic melodrama.
Every emotional beat is massive, and every sentence might be labeled with “For Your Consideration,” yet every member of the outstanding ensemble gets their own opportunity to shine. Unfortunately, the film’s clear attempts at dramatic grandeur are undermined by the pulpy airplane-novel scripting. But, if nothing else, it maintains your attention the entire time.
7. The Gingerbread Man (1997)
- IMDB rating– 7.4
- Rotten Tomato rating– 59%
- Director-Robert Altman
- Writer-Jim Aylesworth
- Cast-Kenneth Branagh, Rick Magruder, Embeth Davidtz, Mallory Doss, Robert Downey Jr, Clyde Pell, Daryl Hannah, Lois Harlan, Robert Duvall, Dixon Doss.
The Gingerbread Man is a 1998 John Grisham thriller movie about Rick Magruder, a lawyer who is on the run from his girlfriend’s deadly father, who is furious at Magruder for having him committed to a mental facility.
Production issues delayed the film’s release and resulted in a considerable tone shift, but the picture nonetheless did very well, with the majority of critical praise coming from its direction and performances. The Gingerbread Man now has a 58 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
6. The Pelican Brief (1993)
- IMDB rating– 6.1
- Rotten Tomato rating– 53%
- Director-Alan J. Pakula
- Writer-John Grisham
- Cast-Julia Roberts · Darby Shaw; Denzel Washington · Gray Grantham; Sam Shepard · Thomas Callahan; John Heard · Gavin Verheek; Tony Goldwyn · Fletcher Coal.
The Pelican Brief, a 1993 legal thriller starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, follows Darby (Roberts), a law student who files a brief accusing an oil billionaire of the murders of two Supreme Court justices. While she doesn’t believe it at first, after nearly being assassinated, she realizes her brief was correct, and her terrible opponents are seeking to conceal the truth.
While critics complimented the film’s performances, direction, and pacing, many believed it was inferior to comparable thrillers of the time. Rotten Tomatoes now gives The Pelican Brief a favorable rating of 53%.
5. The Chamber (1996)
- IMDB Rating– 9.1
- Rotten Tomato rating– 85%
- Director-James Foley
- Writer-John Grisham
- Cast-Chris O’Donnell, Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway, Robert Prosky.
Chris O’Donnell is a young lawyer attempting to save his bigoted grandpa, Gene Hackman, from being gassed. The version, directed by James Foley, attempts to blend serious discussions about the death sentence and racism with excessive melodrama, but O’Donnell is entirely lost here, and the mystery is stretched out and unimpressive.
Even Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway don’t offer anything to this absolutely dull, repetitive, and forgettable courtroom “thriller.” director James Foley, Grisham’s sixth courtroom thriller.
The Chamber is a crime thriller from 1996 about a lawyer attempting to save his grandpa from death row. Unfortunately, even Grisham was dissatisfied with the ultimate outcome, calling it “a train catastrophe from the start.” Reviewers agreed, criticizing the narrative, characters, and tone of the picture.
The Chamber, a movie by John Grisham currently has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of only 12%.
4. Christmas With The Kranks (2004)
- IMDB rating– 8.1
- Rotten Tomato rating– 76%
- Director-Joe Roth
- Writer-Chris Columbus
- Cast-Tim Allen · Jamie Lee Curtis · Dan Aykroyd · M. Emmet Walsh · Elizabeth Franz · Erik Per Sullivan · Cheech Marin · Jake Busey.
Skipping Christmas, Grisham’s comedic novel about a family who resolves to forego holiday customs, law school earned mixed reviews, but the film adaptation, 2004’s Christmas With The Kranks, was uniformly derided.
Many reviews criticized the picture for being unfunny, uninteresting, and without true feeling. As a result, the picture flopped at the box office, thus putting a stop to John Grisham movies, in general movies based on the john.
Christmas With The Kranks currently has a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
3. A Painted House(2003)
- IMDB rating– 7.8
- Rotten Tomato rating– 74%
- Director-Alfonso Arau
- Writer-John Grisham
- Cast-Scott Glenn · Arija Bareikis · Robert Sean Leonard · Melinda Dillon · Logan Lerman · Audrey Marie Anderson · Geoffrey Lewis · Pablo Schreiber.
A young man, his family, and the migrant laborers they recruit to work on their cotton field face great odds in raising and selling the harvest. Meanwhile, the youngster wishes to live in better circumstances. However, alan jay Pakula throughout this particularly difficult agricultural season, the child discovers that his difficulties help him in realizing who he truly is.
2. The Street Lawyer (2003)
- IMDB rating– 7.4
- Rotten Tomato rating– 62%
- Director-Paris Barclay
- Writer-John Grisham
- Cast-Eddie Cibrian · Michael Brock; Mario Van Peebles · Mordecai Green; KaDee Strickland · Caroline Browne; James Le Gros · Barry Nuzzo; (as James LeGros).
“The Street Lawyer” is a movie based on John Grisham’s book about an only film attorney film’s pilot who leaves his prestigious practice to work for the underprivileged.
1. Mickey(2004)
- IMDB rating– 6.8
- Rotten Tomato rating– 59%
- Director-Hugh Wilson
- Writer-John Grisham
- Cast-Harry Connick, Jr. as Glen Ryan (Tripp Spence); Mike Starr as Tony; Michelle Johnson as Patty; Hugh Wilson as Munson; John Grisham
“Mickey,” based on John Grisham’s original screenplay, portrays Harry Connick Jr. as a lawyer who would do everything for one more year of Little League with his gifted son, Shawn Salinas. So when they have to flee the IRS and acquire new identities, it’s a blessing in disguise, offering a (too old)
Salinas one more opportunity at fame as “Mickey.” However, Mickey becomes a national phenomenon, and the government discusses whether to allow him to cheat in order to humiliate the tough-as-nails Cuban squad. This family-friendly sports film has a lot of emotional excuses for cheating, which makes it difficult to watch… yet Connick and Salinas almost make it work.
A widowed lawyer wanted by the IRS creates a new identity and enrols his now-too-old kid in Little League for one more year. This may have been a mistake since his son’s domination has captured the attention of the media as his team races toward the Little League World Series.
