To say that I'm knee-deep in pop culture would be quite an understatement. Movies, television, music, books, the Internet -- I dabble in all sorts of entertainment and it's been like that for as long as I can remember. The drawback (perhaps) with being involved like this is that one can often miss trends or simply choose to ignore them all together. Despite the fact that I used to be an avid reader, I've never picked up a John Grisham novel. Legal thrillers were never really my thing, and despite the fact that I've had people offer to loan the books to me, I declined. At the other end of the spectrum, I've never liked Tom Cruise, and his "acting" has never impressed me. While everyone I knew was flocking to see him movies in the 80s and 90s, I usually avoided them. So, viewing The Firm for the very first time on Blu-ray Disc was bringing home all kinds of things which I'd missed in the past.

Cruise stars in The Firm as Mitch McDeere, a young man who has just finished his studies at Harvard Law and is being recruited by many prominent law firms. Much to the surprise to his wife, Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Mitch accepts a position with a firm in Memphis, Tennessee. They travel to Memphis and Mitch is very impressed with the firm's stature and its promises of wealth (they provide Mitch and Abby with a Mercedes and a furnished house). However, Abby is taken aback by the firm's "recommendation" that she not have a job, as they like to focus on family. Mitch falls under the tutelage of veteran lawyer Avery Tolar (Gene Hackman) and on a trip to the Cayman Islands, stumbles across many files in Avery's condo. Mitch is also suspicious of how several past employees at the firm have died. He begins to do some digging and begins to suspect that the firm may have ties to organized crime and that it silences any associates which speak up about this. The firm makes it clear that they mean business and Mitch realizes that he and Abby may be in danger.

Having a book adapted into a movie offers the best of both worlds for an author. The movie will bring their story to a whole new audience and can prove that something well-written can translate to another medium. On the other hand, there's the chance that the filmmakers will change everything -- the story, the focus and the meaning. Well, apparently the makers of The Firm wanted to do right by Grisham, as the movie is very detailed and contains many characters. And while this sounds like a good thing on the surface, it shows the pros and cons of an adaptation.

The Firm comes from Director Sydney Pollack who had certainly made some thrillers in the past, but was much better known for his dramas. It's very clear that he wants to try and balance those genres here. The movie focuses on the specific plot points of the firm's wrong-doings and Mitch's investigation, and the third act contains a few chase scenes, as Mitch attempts to stay one step ahead of his pursuers. But, the movie is also intent on giving us an abundance of character development and it doesn't shy away from allowing us to watch Mitch and Abby settle into their new lives. The problem is that the movie is 2 1/2 hours long and we feel every minute of it. There's nothing wrong with a movie wanting to be detailed and take the time to tell a good story, but The Firm seems to determined to show us everything. Thus, the ebb and flow of the pacing feels very off and it's a welcome relief when the chase truly begins. There are also some scenes which should be suspenseful, but simply aren't. Suspense is tough to pull off, and Pollack doesn't do it here.

These issues aside, there's no denying that The Firm has an interesting story. Playing like the corporate version of The Stepford Wives, we can easily relate to both Mitch and Abby. Who wouldn't want to get a high-paying job with plenty of perks? However, we can also easily see what Abby is wary of the whole thing. This jumping off point makes it very easy to buy what the movie is selling and give it a chance. Again, I haven't read the novel, but it's more understanding that the movie sticks pretty closely to the book, save for the ending. The ending of the film is still interesting and while not a classic twist (as the movie wants it to be), Mitch's plan to get away is clever. The movie also gets a huge boost from its cast. Hal Holbrook, Wilford Brimley, Holly Hunter, Gary Busey, David Strathairn, Ed Harris -- this is a fantastic cast and everyone delivers. (And it's great to see Jigsaw in a crazy wig!) Even Cruise is good in the first half of the movie, as he's easily believable as a cocky lawyer.

So, The Firm is about what you would expect. It presents us with an intriguing plot, but it goes out of its way to be faithful to the novel and suffers for this. However, the movie has one flaw which I simply couldn't get past. I can only imagine that someone said, "How much is a full orchestra? Really? OK, how much is just one guy with a piano?" The score by Dave Grusin, which is literally just piano music for most of the movie, is incredibly annoying and I can't believe that it was nominated for an Oscar. Good movie music should compliment the film and not draw attention to itself, but this piano misfire really damages the movie.

The Firm makes sure that we see all of the sights in Memphis on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 27 Mbps. Not unlike some other recent Blu-ray releases of older movies, the transfer here varies in quality. Some scenes are very sharp and clear, while others show notable grain. There is seemingly no pattern to this. The image doesn't show any significant defects from the source material. The colors look good and the image is never overly dark or bright. The clearer shots show a nice amount of detail. The Disc offers a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.5 Mbps. (Who uses Dolby TrueHD anymore?) The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are fairly good, most notably during crowd scenes and the third act. The surround sound effects are almost more obvious during the last 30 minutes, but they are never very powerful. I didn't not any significant subwoofer effects.

The only extras on The Firm Blu-ray Disc are the TEASER TRAILER and the THEATRICAL TRAILER for the film.