The late Brad Renfro, , was such a talented young actor, who seemed much older than his years. A boy amongst adults in this John Grisham novel turned big screen movie, leading a cast of big names. A decent storyline of streetwise kid v's the mafia makes for a memorable film.

I think this film is garbage. I'll be clear ... it's a competently made film with a mostly talented cast, but the story is really stupid in the laziest way possible. All the characters are one dimensional stereotypes and they inhabit a plot that strains to reach mere implausibility.

12 year old Mark Sway and his younger brother Ricky witness a suicide: Ricky is shocked into catatonia. The suicide lawyer may have told Mark the location of a mob murder victim, so Mark is a possible target. Ambitious district attorney Roy Foltrigg wants to question Mark: aware that Foltrigg may not have his best interests at heart, Mark engages Reggie as his lawyer, but Reggie has her own problems.This is a good film: had it avoided the rather too obvious (and unnecessary) chase elements, it would have been a great film. Susan Sarandon's Reggie is human and believable, and Tommy Lee Jones' Foltrigg is clever, annoying, and funny - both are terrific performances.But the young Brad Renfro in his first performance is magnetic, and the film is at its best when he's running rings round the adults. His death at 25 and the downward spiral which led to it were absolutely tragic.

Prolific legal thriller author John Grisham was starting to repeat himself, but The Client still manages to be a relatively engrossing novel. As typical of Grisham screen adaptations up to that point, the film version is a bit of a disappointment after the novel.Young Brad Renfro and his brother stumble across the attempted suicide of a Mafia attorney, who confides where a politician's body is buried before doing away with himself. When the authorities place Renfro at the scene, they realize that he knows more than he is telling them and the Mafia assassin Anthony LaPaglia comes to suspect as much, placing the boy and his family in danger. He seeks out the help of a local attorney, played by Susan Sarandon, to defend him against the machinations of district attorney Tommy Lee Jones and arrange for the safe passage of his family.Unlike The Firm and The Pelican Brief, no one can accuse The Client of not keeping the pace moving. Unfortunately, the changes made to the storyline, including some important motivations for the characters, have been omitted and the rationale/dialog has been dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. For instance, we are expected to believe that Jones' driven D.A. suspects Renfro's street wise youth of knowing a secret that would make him a threat to the Mob. Are we then expected to believe that Jones would not logically follow through that Renfro is not speaking out of fear for himself and his family, and that an offer to place him in witness protection would be required? The film is almost to its conclusion before the concept of witness protection is even considered and - by the climax - becomes utterly irrelevant.The film depends on Renfro giving a convincing performance as the boy and he handles himself well. He traverses the punk aspects of his young rebel and crafts a likable, mischievous kid. The casting of Jones and Sarandon in the focal adult roles is a coup. Unfortunately, the story changes remove what could have been some terrific character moments. Additionally, the film spends too much time pitting them as adversaries instead of allowing them to work together. Sarandon, in particular, is solid, but the role as written is lacking in any truly strong moments between her and the boy and/or her and Jones. You keep waiting for her attorney to really lay into somebody and wow us with her legal acumen, but the moment never comes. Mary-Louise Parker is embarrassing as the boy's young white trash mother. Sporting an over-exaggerated drawl, she spends most the film in a state of shrill hysteria. LaPaglia is just plain laughable as the Mob goon after the boy. He is not especially menacing and never seems to have the cunning to top the various other characters. Another dumb idea is having Will Patton play his role of the investigating officer in such a smirky, arrogant manner. He would be the last person anyone would want interrogating a frightened young boy.The film has some minor suspense, but it is also terribly shallow. We never really feel that the boy and his family will ever come to genuine harm, especially after seeing the oafish depiction of the Mob the film presents. The end result is a couple of solid performances, particularly notable work from Renfro, but it never truly crackles to life and becomes the rousing legal thriller that it seems to want to be. However, if you are a Grisham fan, you will probably find this film version fits the bill better than Hollywood's earlier attempts at adapting his work.