I was a huge fan of John Grisham's The Firm back when it was just a novel, and I even enjoyed the Tom Cruise movie adaptation. But when I heard that NBC was making a television series, I balked. I wasn't sure why the entire story needed to be retold in another format.
Except that the series, aptly titled The Firm, isn't another copy. Rather it's merely the next chapter for main character and defense attorney Mitch McDeere and the rest of his family.
The backstory is quickly explained with a few sentences about Mitch working for the firm, Bendini, Lambert & Locke, and how he helped the FBI bring it down because of money laundering for the mob. Of course, placing a mob leader in jail is a sure fire way to get yourself killed, but that's what witness protection is for. I recognize that this all may be a bit confusing to a viewer who hasn't delved into Grisham's pages or watched the film, but the basic recognition of "dealing with the mob means potential danger at every turn" is an easy enough concept to grasp.
The rest of the two-hour premiere - summed up in two episodes, the "pilot" and "Chapter Two" - revealed the set up of Mitch's new life 10 years later. Seriously, how bad is this guy at picking employers?!? Six weeks after we first meet him, Mitch has the revelation that a case he is working on is not all it seems.
Yes, Mitch. It is happening again. Death and conspiracy are back.
The show showed its ambition in depicting three separate cases, all of relative important, especially because they meant the viewer had to pay attention to which one Mitch might be working on at various times. It also meant that the larger story required those smaller ones to intertwine and push everything forward, while giving the characters a chance to be something more than moving scenery to the plot.
Like any regular law procedural, there was something of an open and closed case. This particular one involved Mitch defending a boy who killed a classmate. Interestingly enough, the boy was guilty, but the way he went about defending him worked in providing some morality for his character. Sure, Mitch admits that he defends bad guys, but in terms of this case, he at least wanted to give the kid the best possible outcome. If anything, Mitch truly believes in the justice system.
Those strong convictions were continued in his other case, which concerned a woman who was nearly killed due to defective medical equipment. He not only refused a bribe, but he was determined to win and destroy the company that made the faulty piece.
Read more: http://www.tvfanatic.com/2012/01/the-firm-review-pilot/#ixzz1ixZQyqGf
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