Her law professor and lover Thomas Callahan, a former clerk of Rosenberg's, reads the brief and gives a copy to Gavin Verheek, special counsel to the director of the FBI.

Darby surmised that Mattiece, hoping to turn the case in his favor, is behind the two justices' murders, as they shared similar environment protection views.

Sometime later, Darby watches a TV interview with Grantham that reveals Mattiece, four aides and lawyers have been indicted, and the president's chief of staff Fletcher Coal has resigned.

In October 1991, Daily Variety announced Alan J. Pakula's involvement in writing, directing, and producing a film adaptation of John Grisham's novel The Pelican Brief.

However, financial troubles at Carolco led to Pakula's departure from the company, resulting in an early termination of his contract and the transfer of The Pelican Brief project to him.

[4] Julia Roberts ended a yearlong hiatus from acting by signing on to portray "Darby Shaw," undergoing preparation by attending law classes at Tulane University in New Orleans, where filming commenced on May 21, 1993.

Tony Goldwyn campaigned for the role of "Fletcher Coal," convincing Pakula he could portray a younger version of the character than depicted in the novel.

[4] Pakula and Warner Bros. opted to film an additional, more upbeat ending, leading to extra shooting in Montecito, California, on November 27, 1993, extending the runtime by approximately ninety seconds.

The site's consensus states: "Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington are a compelling team in the overlong Pelican Brief, a pulpy thriller that doesn't quite justify the intellectual remove of Alan J. Pakula's direction.

In The Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave it 3 out of a possible 4 stars, writing "the movie delivers while it's onscreen" but also believed The Pelican Brief was inferior to the film adaptation of Grisham's The Firm (also 1993) and ranked as one of Pakula's lesser efforts.

Although there's plenty of suspense as Darby and Gray evade her pursuers, the director eschews the cheaper tricks of the trade, respecting the audience's ability to keep track of what's going on.

"[11] Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote: "The Pelican Brief is best watched as a celebration of liquid brown eyes and serious star quality, thanks to the casting of Ms. Roberts and Denzel Washington in its leading roles.