Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 54% based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The site's consensus states: "Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington are a compelling team in the overlong Pelican Brief, a pulpy thriller that doesn't quite justify the intellectual remove of Alan J. Pakula's direction." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Pat Collins, from WWOR-TV, said that the film was "A heart-stopping, spine-chilling, adrenaline-pumping, run-for-your-life thriller." In The Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave it 3 out of a possible 4 stars, writing "the movie delivers while it's onscreen" but also believed The Pelican Brief was inferior to the film adaptation of Grisham's The Firm (also 1993) and ranked as one of Pakula's lesser efforts. Film critic Brian Lowry of Variety wrote in his review: Pakula does a remarkable job in weaving and making sense of these complex strands. Although there's plenty of suspense as Darby and Gray evade her pursuers, the director eschews the cheaper tricks of the trade, respecting the audience's ability to keep track of what's going on. Also, Brief is a relatively gore-free thriller, with most of the violence effectively conveyed offscreen. Film critic Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote in her review: The Pelican Brief is best watched as a celebration of liquid brown eyes and serious star quality, thanks to the casting of Ms. Roberts and Denzel Washington in its leading roles. Neither of these first-rate actors is shown to great dramatic advantage, but they both do a lot to make the movie shine. Home video The Pelican Brief was released on VHS on June 15, 1994, by Warner Home Video. The film was released on Blu-ray on February 10, 2009, by Warner Home Video. The Pelican Brief was released on DVD on September 7, 2010, by Warner Home Video. References External links 1990s legal films 1993 thriller films 1993 films American legal films American political thriller films 1990s English-language films Environmental films Films about journalists Films based on thriller novels Films based on works by John Grisham Films directed by Alan J. Pakula Films scored by James Horner Films set in New Orleans Films set in Washington, D.C. Legal