It's heavy on dialogue but The Client has an excellent plot - a trailer park boy witnesses a terrible incident involving gangsters and, while on the run from them, chooses a struggling recovering alcoholic lawyer, a woman called Reggie Love, to represent him. As the boy, Mark Renfro is outstanding - focused, tough but vulnerable, and funny. I was sad to learn that Renfro died of substance abuse age 25 - he was really talented. As his down and out mother, Mary-Louise Parker tries hard - it's more her character and lines that are cliched. But the real stars are Susan Sarandon as the spirited lawyer Reggie Love who gets many knocks but gets back up again. And Tommy Lee Jones, as the lead detective, is just wonderful - smart and tough and a little devious in his attempts to get information oit of the kid. Like in The Fugitive, the police are actually harassing the witness and not the culprits. In this case, the witness is a child, whose rights Reggie ferociously fights for.

I don't mean to play the prig, but the kid was withholding evidence. Are we really meant to be on his side? Surely it's more rational to hope that the forces of law and order get the information out of that little pipsqueak in the end.

Of course, it's perfectly possible to sympathise with someone who's thwarting the police - under circumstances other than these. Were the police evil, or incompetent? No. Was the child at all likeable? No. Did the child have a rational reason for keeping silent? No. (By the way, his justification for all of his questionable beliefs about the wider world was, `I seen it on TV' - presumably we were meant to sigh and say, `How cute.') Did anything at all interesting or exciting happen at any point during the movie to distract us from the annoying premise? Not that I noticed.

After two hours' of static stand-off there is a contrived ending - the child and his lawyer don't say, `Well, I suppose we'd better do SOMETHING to resolve the plot, such as it is,' but what they do say is almost as lame. I don't think anyone was even trying.

Ironically enough I saw a Perry Mason episode a few days earlier where a young kid around Brad Renfro's age comes to Raymond Burr seeking legal advice and got taken on as a client eventually. I wonder if John Grisham saw the episode and got the germ of an idea for a book.

Renfro is a most wanted individual. He saw a lawyer from New Orleans kill himself and before he died he revealed where the missing body of a Louisiana State Senator was. It seems as though organized crime put a hit on him and the discovery of said body will cinch an indictment against Anthony LaPaglia the number one contract killer in the New Orleans mob.

So US Attorney Tommy Lee Jones wants Renfro. LaPaglia wants to silence him. It's all way too overwhelming for Renfro's mother, some poor white trash woman played by Mary Louise Parker. And too overwhelming for Renfro who finds Susan Sarandon as an attorney who will guard his interests.

Susan Sarandon got a Best Actress nomination for this film and on the strength of her scenes as a righteous attorney guarding Renfro's interests and her very tender scenes with Renfro earning his trust which was not easy. Sarandon hits all the right notes and every emotion from her in this film rings true to life.

Brad Renfro was a complete unknown who was cast in the film because he was a local kid and he does come across as a real kid and very well. Half of Sarandon's nomination should have been credited to him. Sad indeed that he proved to be another young Hollywood tragedy.

Down in the cast in a small part that he really makes count is Ossie Davis playing a judge who is trying to sort out everyone's rights in this situation. Davis was a great authority figure on the bench.

John Grisham novels have such interesting characters they seem to be almost ready made for a screen adaption. The Client is no exception here, you will be engrossed in the story within seconds of starting to watch this film.