The Pelican Brief

The Pelican Brief is a 1993 American legal thriller film based on the 1992 novel by John Grisham. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film stars Julia Roberts in the role of young law student Darby Shaw and Denzel Washington as Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham. The film, which features music composed by James Horner, was the last film that featured Pakula as both writer and director before his death. Plot After an assassin named Khamel kills two Supreme Court justices, Jensen and Rosenberg, 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 and lover Thomas Callahan, a former clerk of Rosenberg's, who in turn gives a copy to his good friend Gavin Verheek, special counsel to the director of the FBI. Soon after, a car bomb kills Callahan. Darby, who refused to ride with the inebriated Callahan, narrowly avoids the same fate. Now 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 disappears. Darby also contacts Grantham, who verifies her information as accurate. Darby's computer, disks, and files disappear from her home. She is attacked at the hotel where she is hiding. She escapes unharmed, but scared. She contacts and agrees to meet Verheek, but Khamel kills Verheek and impersonates him at the meeting. Before Khamel can kill Darby, an unknown person shoots and kills him. Darby agrees to meet Grantham in New York City, where she shares the theory expressed in her brief: the assassinations were done for oil tycoon Victor Mattiece, who intends to exploit the oil he found beneath Louisiana marshland that is habitat for an endangered sub-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; these two justices had differing opinions on most everything except protecting the environment. As a generous contributor to the president, Mattiece expects he would appoint justices that favor oil and gas exploitation over environmental issues while the next president may not do so.