Grays Almanac

Home/Episodes/The Pelican Brief

‘The Pelican Brief’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Amanda Dobbins

December 12, 2023 · The Pelican Brief (1993) · Crime · Drama · Mystery · 1:42:23 · ▶ Listen on Spotify

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

Categories

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 34:59The two judge murders (nursing home and gay movie theater), Julia piecing together the Pelican Brief, she throws the theory at Sam, library research scene, and Sam's car blowing up after he says 'Miss Shaw, you take my breath away'
Chris Ryan▶ 35:15Agreed with Bill's picks and added commentary about Tucci in the theater scene and quoted dialogue from the piecing together scene
Sean Fennessey▶ 36:53Expressed enthusiasm for the library research scene, calling Julia Roberts in a library 'one of my great fantasies'

Great Shot Gordo Award

Bill Simmons▶ 37:28The camera staying on the mirror on the hotel closet and then the closet slightly moves as Camel comes in
Sean Fennessey▶ 37:36The shot right after that where John Hurd admires his torso in the mirror

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Amanda Dobbins▶ 47:09What's the storage plan for Tucci's toupee? He wears it jogging, removes it for the gay club, then has it back at Dulles - is it the same one and where does he keep it?
Bill Simmons▶ 47:38Suggested Tucci might have had multiple toupees to solve the storage question, but mostly facilitated discussion of disguises rather than posing specific unanswerable questions
Chris Ryan▶ 46:10Did Kamal have his gay porn theater disguise outfit planned in advance, or was it improvised? Also, where did he store his gun between murders?

Big Kahuna Burger Award

Amanda Dobbins▶ 55:09The chocolate that Kamal eats while killing John Hurt
Bill Simmons▶ 55:03Kamal's Popcorn

Den of Thieves Benihana Award

Bill Simmons▶ 55:17New Orleans
Chris Ryan▶ 55:17Riverwalk or Mount Vernon
Sean Fennessey▶ 55:25Discussed Mount Vernon as being like a theme park now with a lot going on

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 1:01:25The movie's 141-minute runtime - questions why it's so long and three minutes longer than All the President's Men
Chris Ryan▶ 57:46Our capacity to be scandalized - doesn't think people would be as scandalized by the conspiracy in 1993 given events like January 6th
Sean Fennessey▶ 58:06Disagrees with Chris - points to Clinton affair and OJ trial as examples that people could still be scandalized in the 1990s, suggests the scandal capacity hasn't changed that much

Ron Burgundy Flute Award

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:04:00The outdated technology references like 'your computer's gone, so are your floppy disks and your red expandable files'
Bill Simmons▶ 1:02:55The opening eight minutes - three minutes of pelican credits plus another four minutes where nothing happens until Tucci gets the envelope
Chris Ryan▶ 1:03:17Defends the movie structure, noting they need to set up Gray in the first 40 minutes even though he shouldn't be in it until Darby calls

Is There a Better Title?

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:08:44Likes the current title and how they use it in the movie
Bill Simmons▶ 1:08:28No, thinks the current title is good
Chris Ryan▶ 1:07:46Mentions having 'a couple' but doesn't clearly state them
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:08:34Suggests 'The Brief' to match other John Grisham film titles

Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:12:38Are we sure it wasn't the CIA? The CIA may have actually been behind the conspiracy, using Matisse as a decoy
Bill Simmons▶ 1:11:29The movie would be unquestionably better in 1993 with Sandra Bullock instead of Julia Roberts - it's not good acting from Roberts
Chris Ryan▶ 1:10:45Victor Matisse should have hired more assassins - if he's one of the most powerful businessmen in the world, he can only afford Camel and Woodison as assassins with no safeguards
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:11:22Julia Roberts is wildly miscast and misused in this movie - the role needed a quieter actor like Jennifer Jason Lee

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:15:12Julia Roberts — Grisham wanted Julia Roberts to be Darby Shaw
Chris Ryan▶ 1:15:25Discussed how Grisham had major stars wanting his movie roles, and noted both Julia and Denzel did method preparation

Overacting Award

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:16:33Julia Roberts — Agrees with the underacting assessment but notes Julia Roberts' car bomb scene as an exception where she does overact with shaking and screaming reactions
Bill Simmons▶ 1:16:20Julia Roberts — Creates 'underacting award' for Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, noting they underplay most of their performances except for specific scenes

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:17:18Shepard
Chris Ryan▶ 1:17:23Stanley Tucci — Tucci

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 1:19:03Julia Roberts won Best Actress in 2000, then presented Denzel's Best Actor award the next year; Alan Pakula died tragically in highway accident when pipe went through windshield; William Goldman praised Pakula highly
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:19:37Documentary 'Alan Pakula Going for Truth' available on Amazon featuring interviews with major stars from his films including Redford, Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts

Apex Mountain

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:21:42Home Alone — John Heard's apex is Home Alone
Bill Simmons▶ 1:21:13Julia Roberts — Discussed multiple people but seemed to lean toward Julia Roberts being at her apex after Pretty Woman
Chris Ryan▶ 1:21:05Julia Roberts — Agreed with others on Julia Roberts and discussed Denzel not being at his apex yet
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:21:07Denzel Washington — Denzel Washington not at his apex - he's a major box office draw but not quite huge by himself yet

Is This Movie Better With

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:31:14J.T. Walsh — Agrees with JT Walsh pick and appreciates Wayne Jenkins impressions from previous episodes
Bill Simmons▶ 1:31:20Byron Mayo - performs elaborate impression with romantic/conspiratorial dialogue
Chris Ryan▶ 1:30:36J.T. Walsh — JT Walsh as Matisse, also Wayne Jenkins - performs detailed Wayne Jenkins impression

Just One Oscar

Bill Simmons▶ 1:32:28No one deserves an Oscar for this movie
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:32:31Byron Mayo — Byron Mayo might have deserved one if they found a way to work him in

Best Double Feature

Bill Simmons▶ 1:35:38The Firm
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:35:42The Parallax View — The Parallax View by Alan J. Pakula (primary pick) and also mentions Hardcore

Coach Finstock Life Lesson

Bill Simmons▶ 1:37:57If you find out about a giant government conspiracy, just keep it to yourself - not worth it
Chris Ryan▶ 1:38:08Disagrees with Bill's lesson, suggesting Bill himself would sprinkle conspiracy theories on podcasts rather than keep them to himself

Who Won the Movie

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:38:32John Grisham
Bill Simmons▶ 1:38:33John Grisham
Chris Ryan▶ 1:39:08Conspiracies - the concept/genre benefited and remains relevant
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:38:35Denzel Washington — Denzel Washington - crossed from A to A+ star and never had to rely on another movie star again

Movies Referenced (45)

Home Alone (1990)

13 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:21:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Firm (1993)

8 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 3:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Oppenheimer (2023)

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 1:40:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

All the President's Men (1976)

6 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins▶ 20:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Philadelphia (1993)

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 14:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Pretty Woman (1990)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins▶ 6:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Crimson Tide (1995)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 53:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Days of Heaven (1978)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 45:53IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Don't Worry Darling (2022)

2 mentions · Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:18:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fargo (1996)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 33:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Forrest Gump (1994)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 2:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mystic Pizza (1988)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 6:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (6)

Alan J. Pakula

10 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Sophie's Choice, All the President's Men, Presumed Innocent▶ 10:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kevin Costner

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Dances with Wolves, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves▶ 14:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Herbert Ross

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Goodbye Girl, Steel Magnolias▶ 8:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jayson Clute

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Titanic, American Psycho▶ 28:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Robert Mulligan

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for To Kill a Mockingbird▶ 28:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tony Scott

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Domino, Unstoppable, True Romance▶ 52:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (52)

Denzel Washington

47 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Fences, The Book of Eli▶ 3:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Stanley Tucci

24 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Big Night, Spotlight, The Lovely Bones▶ 19:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kevin Brief

19 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins▶ 3:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sam Shepard

17 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Chris Ryan · Known for Black Hawk Down▶ 27:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Julia Roberts

12 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Pretty Woman, My Best Friend's Wedding▶ 3:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mike Tirico

11 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Jerry Maguire▶ 1:21:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Lithgow

10 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins · Known for The World According to Garp, Cliffhanger, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension▶ 27:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Robert Redford

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins · Known for The Natural, Ordinary People, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid▶ 9:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Thomas Callahan

6 mentions · Chris Ryan, Amanda Dobbins▶ 38:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Eddie Murphy

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Harlem Nights, The Nutty Professor▶ 16:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Adam Driver

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi▶ 1:18:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Chuck Yeager

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Right Stuff▶ 44:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (7)

John Grisham

17 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey · Known for Runaway Jury, The Rainmaker, A Time to Kill▶ 3:52IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

4 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 31:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tom Holland

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Child's Play▶ 1:17:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jim Garrison

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for JFK, The Big Easy▶ 1:13:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Nora Ephron

1 mentions · Amanda Dobbins · Known for Julie & Julia, When Harry Met Sally...▶ 25:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Paul Schrader

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for First Reformed, The Card Counter▶ 1:07:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Taylor Worst

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:02:54IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (1)

Gordon Willis

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Godfather Part II, Manhattan▶ 10:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗