Because I see so many movies, I rarely read fiction. If I want to peruse a book, I prefer material that doesn't translate well into films.

As such, I knew little about famed author John Grisham and his world of lawyer-oriented thrillers before they started to appear as movies with 1993's The Firm. Hotshot law school grad Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) receives many stunning offers to work at a number of big law firms.

The best deal, however, comes from a small group in Memphis, and Mitch quickly grabs this package. Everything seems perfect, but Mitch discovers that "the firm" is not exactly a great place to work, and he becomes ensnared in some nasty business that may threaten his life.

Ultimately, The Firm offers a pretty rote thriller that feels palatable due to a terrific cast. In addition to Cruise, we find stalwarts such as Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Hal Holbrook, Wilford Brimley, Holly Hunter, Gary Busey and David Strathairn. Though none of them stand out in their roles, their presence makes the project more compelling.

But not anything beyond that. The Firm offers a superficially-enjoyable suspense film that offers little substance and doesn't provide enough thrills to merit much consideration.

The Firm seems like a "nothing better to watch" kind of movie. I didn't mind my time with it, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again.

The Firm appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was an adequate but erratic presentation.

Overall sharpness seemed fine. A handful of shots provided mild softness, and light edge haloes exacerbated those concerns, but the majority of the film offered fairly positive delineation.

I saw no issues with jagged edges or moiré effects. Print flaws appeared in the form of some specks and marks, but they remained modest.

Colors tended toward a natural – albeit low-key – palette. The Blu-ray didn’t give these hues great life, but they felt well-rendered for the most part.

Blacks appeared acceptably dark and tight, while shadows brought us fair smoothness and clarity. I felt the image became more than watchable but less than impressive.

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundfield stayed pretty firmly rooted in the front spectrum, where it did fairly well for itself. The mix presented good ambient sound from the side channels, and all of the audio blended together smoothly.

The rears tended to bolster the film's score, and they also provided some occasional effects, but I detected no indication any effort was made to create a surround mix that really involved the viewer. Ass such, the front speakers carried the show.

Audio quality appeared solid throughout the movie. Dialogue sounded warm and natural, and I had no trouble understanding speech at any time.

Effects were clear and realistic, and they lacked distortion. Dave Grusin's piano score came across nicely, as it sounded bright and full, with some good depth to the range as well. The audio mix for The Firm certainly won't make your list of "demo discs", but it succeeded reasonably well.

The disc includes two trailers - and that’s it!

The Firm offers a generally enjoyable but fairly unexceptional little thriller. It boasts a terrific cast but doesn't do much with most of them, and the movie just coasts along until it reaches its respectably exciting conclusion. The Blu-ray brings us mediocre picture as well as fairly positive audio and virtually no supplements. This becomes a passable product for a mildly engaging film

To rate this film, visit the original review of THE FIRM