The Firm

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I have recently started reading some John Grisham, and finished reading and watching The Firm. One thing is interesting to me... In the book, the main character cheats on his wife and the firm tries to blackmail him but he works out a situation where he gets away with $8 million at the end and his wife never finds out. However, in the movie, he comes clean with his wife and there's a huge fight. It seemed like such a small detail to me at first, but then I started thinking about it. Plot devices are one thing, but there's plenty of plot to go around with the book, so why? I think it's because it's more palatable for the public to see that you can't get away with stuff like that. Unfortunately, that's what happened in the book, and if you're willing to believe he got away with the money at the end, it would make sense that he could get away with something as small as cheating on his wife. But I bet it was because of the crazy sensibility of the public. Surprising, maybe. But maybe not.

Also different was the ending. In the book version, Tom Cruise and his wife go on the run from the firm, the mob, and the FBI and make off with $8 million. In the movie, however, Tom Cruise comes up with the other plan about billable hours (not in the book) and just drives away, fine with the mob, fine with the FBI, and taking down the partners of the firm. Bananas. It was weird too, because a lot of the stuff in the movie was dead accurate, down to clothing and hair descriptions, but then they change big chunks of the plot. I wonder if John Grisham was able to give any input with regards to the plot when the movie was made. Maybe he just cashed the check and ran away happy. This is why I am interested in reading more. I mean, so many of his books were made into films like The Firm, The Runaway Jury, A Time to Kill, The Client, The Pelican Brief, The Rainmaker, etc. I want to read and watch them all!!!

Netflix update: I just started watching Damages, a TNT show with Glenn Close, and I love it. I am really into the whole legal thriller genre. At first it made me want to be a lawyer, but I would suck at it. Ted Danson is also on this show, more details to follow.

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