Lights, Camera, Legal Action!

"The Firm" is perhaps best described as the "M" movie. What else this summer will have Memphis, the Mafia, matters of the law and Mitch McDeere?

Despite this unlikely collection of elements, the movie, as in the book on which it was based, manages to hold together, although not without a few weak points.

The plot centers on Mitch McDeere, a young Harvard Law graduate (Tom Cruise) who goes to work for the small but rich Memphis law firm of Bendini, Lambert and Locke, taking a brilliant legal mind, his shaggy dog and his wife (Jeanne Tripplehorn) along with him.

Bendini, Lambert and Locke pay off McDeere's student loans, buy him a house and lease him a car. It's the perfect job--until Mitch begins to wonder why no lawyer has ever left the firm alive, and why four lawyers have died mysteriously in the past few years. His investigation soon threatens his integrity as a lawyer and eventually, his life.

Those who were big fans of the book and who are book-to-movie purists will have some problems with director Sydney Pollack's big-screen version. For the first two-thirds of the movie, the basic framework of the book's plot is retained, but the intervening details are changed. Readers who enjoyed the plumbing of Mitch's thoughts will be disappointed--we see only Cruise's actions. Some scenes are left in. Others are cut. Still others, such as a free-flowing montage of the offers Mitch receives from other law firms upon graduation, are nowhere to be found in the book.

But the biggest departure from the original blueprint is in the last third. Grisham's detached, careful trail to an explosive conclusion is replaced by direct, face-to-face confrontations in which Mitch and the others involved are in physical danger. The Mafia are portrayed as merely a client of the firm--an important client, to be sure, but not one with familial ties. The ending, which I won't give away, is also new.

Grisham reportedly was very unhappy about the changes. He shouldn't have been, though. For the reworking of "The Firm" solves almost all of the holes in the original plot. Mitch's brief infidelity in the Cayman Islands is a much more explosive issue here. Mitch and Abby's estrangement, which leads to her helping Mitch without his knowledge, adds additional emotional punch to the plot.

Avery Tolar (Gene Hackman), McDeere's mentor at the firm, is now a much more interesting character. A heavy-drinking womanizer who uses alcohol and sex to dull the pain of his wife's rejection while managing to retain a shred of human compassion at the end, his relationship with Abby is one of the strongest parts of the film. The contrast between the young, innocent wife and the older, jaded lawyer and her ultimate emergence as the stronger character is painful but dynamic to watch.

There are some real surprises in the film, but usually they work out rather well. Wilfred "It's the Right Thing to Do" Brimley as the firm's menacing security agent would seem to be a case of gross miscasting, but he pulls it off well. There's a hidden edge of steel to all of his genial suggestions to eat Quaker Oats after all. Holly Hunter as Tammy, the secretary/lover of a private detective killed while digging into the firm is a delight--she goes from persona to persona with razor-sharp acting and timing.

The method Mitch uses to solve his dilemma is also much more plausible--and clever. As in the book, he plays both sides off each other. In the movie, however, the gravity of the consequences of full cooperation with the FBI--disbarment, career termination, etc.--are much more vivid, and Mitch's determination to follow his oath as a lawyer while getting free of the firm is powerfully portrayed.

If you're wondering about the solution...well, all I can say is that it is faintly reminiscent of the ending of "The Untouchables."

This is not to say the movie is without its faults. Mitch's reason for his devotion to his work is never fully backed up. Although he's supposed to be desperate to escape a poor background, it doesn't quite ring true. A shot of his mother in a trailer park or his father in the mines might have done the trick, but Cruise looks too much the part of the well-off preppy young lawyer for it to come through.

Somehow, the Mafia is never tied as deeply and complexly to the firm as some characters say it is. And Cruise's infidelity scene seems somewhat forced and contrived.

The direction and setting, though, is always terrific. The movie begins with up-close shots of Harvard Square. Out of Town News is one of the many guest stars. The Cayman Islands are gorgeous and lush. And the splashy scenes of Memphis--near the Hernando De Soto bridge, on the monorail to Mud Island, on the streets of downtown--are realistic and eye-catching, quite a combination. If you've never seen Memphis, you've got a treat in store.

"The Firm" isn't perfect. But it's a well-crafted, good-looking piece of work, one that successfully evokes thrills, sympathy and a few laughs along the way.

What more can you ask from a summer movie?