The Client
Warner Bros. / 1994 / 116 Mins / Rated M15+


MOVIE
The Client is one of the 3 John Grisham movies that Warner Bros. have made, the others being The Pelican Brief and A Time to Kill. Now while this one is and enjoyable watch, it didn't seem to have the same pulling power as the other two John Grisham movies, although in it's defense it is pretty true to the book.

The story revolves around a young boy named Mark Sway (Brad Renfro) who a rebellious young boy who goes to the local town hideout with his brother the have a sneaky smoke but gets more than he paid for. Suddenly an expensive car comes and parks and out gets a large man who puts a hose from his tail-pipe into the car. 

Mark sees he is trying to top himself so Mark tries to stop him, but the large man grabs him and takes him into the car with him. We learn that the man is a lawyer for the mob, and he knows where the body of a senator is buried, Mark escapes and the man kills himself, but this leaves Mark a wanted boy. 

Wanted by the mob and wanted by the prosecutors of the Muldano Mafia family because he knows where the body of the senator is hidden. He enlists the help of Reggie Love (Susan Sarandon) a small time lawyer to help him out of his plight, but with all the obstacles he faces, he wonders if there is a way out. Fun Stuff.

VIDEO
Another great Anamorphic transfer from Warner Bros. The picture is very crisp and clean and there are very few picture faults at all, dark scenes are very well rendered and is almost reference quality. There are the occasional film specks, but that looks like it came from the film master, not the DVD transfer. Pleasing stuff.

The Client is framed at 2:35:1 and is 16:9 enhanced.

This is a Single Sided, Single Layer disc.

AUDIO
A little bit of a let down here, the movie is only encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0 or Dolby Surround basically, the surrounds get a little bit of use, mainly for music and ambient noise and the .1 channel went into a coma for this one. But in the long run it doesn't matter as most of the movie is based toward the front soundstage.
EXTRAS
Disappointing here, just the Theatrical trailer framed at 1:85:1, 16x9 enhanced, DD2.0. You also get some production notes and some minor cast lists but that is your lot.

Subtitles galore in English, Arabic, Polish, Greek, Czech, Turkish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Croatian, Closed Captions.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Not one of the best on the market, even though the picture quality is top quality the lack of DD5.1 sound, extra features and the fact that it is not as good as the other two John Grisham DVD's I couldn't really recommend this one over The Pelican Brief or A Time to Kill. The only thing this one has over the others is it isn't a flipper.

16:9 ENHANCEMENT DISC RATING

VIDEO:
AUDIO:
EXTRAS:
PLOT:
OVERALL:

REVIEW EQUIPMENT

Display: 48" Sony RPTV.
DVD Player:
Panasonic A350 Player using S-Video Cables.
Receiver:
Pioneer VSX-D508 Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.
Speakers:
Accusound speaker system.

Copyright © 2000 by [Roger Ward].
Revised: 25 May 2000 00:06:02 +1100 .

DVD INFORMATION
Region Coding: Region 4
No of Discs: 1
OFLC Rating M15+
Running Time: 116 minutes
Case Type: Snapper Case
Release Date: 29/12/1998
Catalog Number: 13233
List Price: $29.95
Distributor: Warner Bros.
DISC SPECIFICATIONS
Disc Format: PAL
Disc Type: Label Only
Disc Format: SS-SL
Chapters: 47
Macrovision: Yes
Manufacturer: WAMO
VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS
Aspect Ratio: 2:35:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Film Format: 35mm
SOUND SPECIFICATIONS
Dolby Digital:

2.0 Surround

DTS: None
PCM Stereo: None
Other: None
Languages: English
Subtitles: Yes
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary: None 
Theatrical Trailer: Yes
Teaser Trailer: None
TV Spots: None
Dolby Trailer: None
Documentary: None
Cast & Crew Bios: Yes
Deleted Scenes: None
Music Videos: None
DVD Rom Content: None
Collectable Booklet: None
Scene Access: Yes
Animated Menus: None
Production Notes: Yes
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