---
title: "The Client"
year: 1994
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-client"
fi1m_id: "the-client"
imdb_id: "tt0109446"
tmdb_id: 10731
wikidata_id: "Q255376"
fi1m_score: 72
critics_score: 66
critics_reviews: 8
published: "2026-10-05T19:55:47.581665+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-05T19:55:48.149677+00:00"
region: "BE"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Client (1994)

Directed by Joel Schumacher · 1h 59m · Drama, Thriller, Crime, Mystery

## Identity

The Client

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-client
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-client
- **IMDb ID:** tt0109446
- **TMDB ID:** 10731
- **Wikidata ID:** Q255376
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109446/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/10731, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q255376

**Fi1m score: 72** · Critics 66 from 8 reviews

*In a sentence:* Tommy Lee Jones quoting scripture at a child and losing

> Joel Schumacher’s Grisham adaptation is the small one, and better for it: a boy, a lawyer and a prosecutor in cramped rooms, shouting. Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones carry it with evident pleasure; the gangsters very nearly sink it.

## Synopsis

Mark Sway (Brad Renfro) takes his little brother into the woods behind their trailer park to smoke and finds a black Lincoln with a hose running from the exhaust into the window. The lawyer inside is drunk and wants to die; before he manages it, he tells Mark where a murdered senator is buried. The brother goes into shock, and the police, the FBI and a district attorney called Roy Foltrigg (Tommy Lee Jones) arrive at the hospital wanting what Mark knows. His mother, Dianne (Mary-Louise Parker), cannot afford a lawyer. Mark finds one anyway: Reggie Love (Susan Sarandon), not long in practice and not long sober, who takes his case for the dollar he has in his pocket. The men who buried the senator would prefer he kept quiet.

## Review

John Grisham’s thrillers tend to arrive on screen with a lot of furniture: a Supreme Court, a law firm with a second set of books. *The Client* has none of that. A boy in a trailer park sees something, a prosecutor wants it out of him, and a lawyer stands in the way. Joel Schumacher treats it as a chamber piece with the occasional car, and for most of its 119 minutes that is the right call. It is a good, plain, well-acted thriller about who gets to speak for a child.

The opening is the best thing in it. Mark (Brad Renfro) and his little brother sneak into the woods to smoke, and a black Lincoln pulls up with a hose running from the exhaust into the window. Mark pulls the hose out, then goes back and does it again; the drunk lawyer inside drags him into the car and tells him where a dead senator is buried. Tony Pierce-Roberts shoots it in low afternoon light through the trees, so the car looks like a wrong thing dropped in a pleasant place, and Robert Brown cuts the hose business so that each time the boy goes back we were sure he would not get out. We were frightened for him, and the fear comes from Renfro, who plays the whole thing as a kid too proud to run.

Then the adults arrive. Tommy Lee Jones plays Roy Foltrigg, a prosecutor with a television anchor’s hair and a line of scripture for every occasion, and he does not so much enter a room as take it into custody. Susan Sarandon’s Reggie Love works out of a small office and takes Mark on because he puts a dollar on her desk. Their scenes together are the film. She needles, he preaches, and both of them are performing for the boy. We laughed out loud when she tells Foltrigg, with perfect courtesy, what she thinks of his taste in cameras; here is a courtroom film in which the people arguing are cleverer than the plot.

Mary-Louise Parker’s Dianne Sway spends most of the film in a hospital corridor, smoking and losing a job she cannot afford to lose, and Parker makes her frightened rather than tragic. Anthony Edwards is likeable as Clint, Reggie’s assistant. Bradley Whitford, J. T. Walsh and Will Patton divide the law-enforcement duties and are mostly there to be outwitted by a child. Bruno Rubeo gives Reggie an office of filing cabinets and the hospital a run of pale green corridors, and Ingrid Ferrin puts Jones in suits a size too confident.

What does not work is the other side of the case. Anthony LaPaglia’s Barry Muldano, the gangster who would like the boy to forget, has a ponytail and a switchblade, Kim Coates’s Gronke is his muscle, and every time the film cuts to them it drops from drama into comic strip. The danger to Mark is real on paper and never once on screen. The screenplay, by Akiva Goldsman and Robert Getchell, has trouble with the middle, where the boy is moved from room to room while grown-ups talk about him; somewhere around the hour we caught ourselves checking the time. Howard Shore’s score pushes a low brass pulse under the chases that the chases have not earned, and is better in the quiet, where a few piano notes under Sarandon do the work.

Set against the other Grisham films, this is the least grand and the most alive. [*The Firm*](https://film.one/film/the-firm) (1993) had Tom Cruise running from his own law firm; [*The Pelican Brief*](https://film.one/film/the-pelican-brief) (1993) had a conspiracy. This one is about three people and whose side a child should be on, and Schumacher, who would come back to Grisham with [*A Time to Kill*](https://film.one/film/a-time-to-kill) (1996), understands that an argument in a hospital cafeteria can be the action.

Worth an evening if you like your thrillers talky and your lawyers tired. The gangsters you will have to forgive. It carries a 15, runs just under two hours, and the best thing in it is a boy declining to be impressed by a man who is used to impressing people.

*Fi1m score 72, published 5 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics find The Client a brisk, competent thriller and a smaller-scale, more human John Grisham adaptation. The praise clusters on Susan Sarandon’s lawyer, which several reviews single out as the film’s centre, with Tommy Lee Jones’s scenes opposite her also noted. Joel Schumacher is credited with keeping a large cast in order and the plot moving. One later review reserves its warmest words for Brad Renfro as the boy, who is said to hold his own against the veterans.

The reservations are about the script rather than the acting. Several critics call the set-ups predictable and the characterisation broad, which keeps the film involving rather than gripping. Variety is the dissenter, finding it formulaic, short on suspense and only adequately performed, with the opening sequence its strongest stretch. Otherwise the spread is narrow, from mildly enthusiastic to mildly let down, though three of the eight reviews could not be read in full, so the picture is less firm than the numbers suggest.

## Straight answers

**Is The Client worth watching?**

*The Client* is worth an evening for anyone who likes a thriller built from arguments in small rooms rather than chases, and we scored it 72. Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones carry it with evident pleasure, and Brad Renfro is better still as the boy. The gangsters are a comic strip, and the middle hour sags.

**How long is The Client, and what is it rated?**

*The Client* runs 1h 59m. It is a drama and thriller film.

**Where can I watch The Client in Belgium?**

*The Client* is available to buy from Amazon Prime Video from €7.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How does The Client compare to Witness?**

*The Client* and [*Witness*](https://film.one/film/witness) both put a boy who saw too much in the care of an adult who must keep him alive, but they are different films. *Witness* is a romance first and a crime thriller second, and the romance is what lasts; *The Client* is a legal duel, and its best scenes are two lawyers sparring over a child. *Witness* is the more affecting; *The Client* is the funnier and the talkier.

**Is The Client based on a true story or a book?**

*The Client* is based on the novel of the same name by John Grisham, not on a true story. It is the smallest of the Grisham adaptations, a boy, a lawyer and a prosecutor rather than a law firm or a conspiracy, and the film is better for that scale. You do not need to have read the book.

**What should I watch after The Client?**

After *The Client*, try [*Witness*](https://film.one/film/witness) (1985, Fi1m 84): Another boy who saw too much, and a policeman who has to keep him alive. Then [*The Verdict*](https://film.one/film/the-verdict) (1982, Fi1m 84): A lawyer with a drink problem and one case that might put her right; here, him; and [*The Night of the Hunter*](https://film.one/film/the-night-of-the-hunter) (1955, Fi1m 91): Two children carrying a secret, pursued by a man who talks like a preacher.

### Reviews we read (8)

- **Radio Times**, John Ferguson (4/5): The critic presents the film as a more human-scale John Grisham adaptation. Susan Sarandon’s lawyer and the smaller-scale approach are singled out positively. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-y6i9ue/the-client/)
- **Empire**, Angie Errigo (75/100, inferred): Errigo calls it a taut, recommended suspense thriller with strong characterisation. She especially praises Susan Sarandon’s performance, while noting that Schumacher efficiently handles the many characters. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/client-review/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (65/100, inferred): Turan finds the film an involving, fast-moving thriller, though its broad strokes and predictable setups keep it from being nuanced. He singles out Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones, whose performances and scenes together provide the film’s strongest moments. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-20-ca-17610-story.html)
- **RogerEbert.com** (64/100, inferred): The page could not be accessed, so the critic’s verdict is unavailable. No praise or complaint from the review could be verified. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-client-1994)
- **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (64/100, inferred): The page text is inaccessible, so the critic’s verdict cannot be verified. No specific praise or complaint can be reliably identified. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/20/movies/film-review-one-part-grisham-three-parts-telling-detail.html)
- **Time Out**, GA (64/100, inferred): The page identifies itself as a review, but the critic’s verdict is unavailable. The article text also provides no detail about what the critic praises or criticises. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-client)
- **Variety**, Todd McCarthy (40/100, inferred): McCarthy finds the film a satisfactory but formulaic commercial thriller, with little suspense and merely adequate performances. He praises the opening sequence as the picture’s strongest moment, while criticizing its predictable peril and lack of thrills. [Read](https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/the-client-1200437668/)
- **Den of Geek**, Carley Tauchert (80/100, inferred): Tauchert finds Schumacher’s adaptation successful, praising its ability to capture the spirit of Grisham’s novel. She especially singles out Brad Renfro’s performance as Mark, calling it astounding and noting how well he holds his own alongside the experienced cast. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/revisiting-joel-schumachers-the-client/)

## Details

- **Director:** Joel Schumacher
- **Director:** Joel Schumacher
- **Screenplay:** Akiva Goldsman, Robert Getchell
- **Novel:** John Grisham
- **Cinematography:** Tony Pierce-Roberts
- **Editor:** Robert Brown
- **Music:** Howard Shore
- **Production design:** Bruno Rubeo
- **Costume design:** Ingrid Ferrin
- **Producer:** Arnon Milchan, Steven Reuther
- **Cast:** Brad Renfro as Mark Sway; Susan Sarandon as Reggie Love; Tommy Lee Jones as Roy Foltrigg; Mary-Louise Parker as Dianne Sway; Anthony LaPaglia as Barry Muldano; Bradley Whitford as Thomas Fink; Will Patton as Sergeant Hardy; Anthony Edwards as Clint Von Hooser
- **Runtime:** 1h 59m
- **First release (Canada):** 20 July 1994
- **Genres:** Drama, Thriller, Crime, Mystery
- **Budget:** $45 million
- **Box office:** $118 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZY7_dCQRgk

## Where to watch in Belgium

- Amazon Prime Video: buy €7.99, hd

*Checked 2026-10-05.*

Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, FI, FR, GB, HR, HU, IE, IT, JP, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, UA, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 1995: Best Actress (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Witness* (1985), Fi1m 84: Another boy who saw too much, and a policeman who has to keep him alive. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/witness.md)
- *The Verdict* (1982), Fi1m 84: A lawyer with a drink problem and one case that might put her right; here, him. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-verdict.md)
- *The Night of the Hunter* (1955), Fi1m 91: Two children carrying a secret, pursued by a man who talks like a preacher. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-night-of-the-hunter.md)
- *A Time to Kill* (1996), Fi1m 55: Schumacher’s second Grisham, bigger and sweatier, with the same taste for courtroom argument. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-time-to-kill.md)
- *Erin Brockovich* (2000), Fi1m 78: Lawyering from the bottom of the building, by a woman nobody expected to win. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/erin-brockovich.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-client