The Client (1994)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A young boy becomes the target of the mob after witnessing a desperate act by a lawyer.
The story
Eleven-year-old Mark Sway and his little brother Ricky encounter a mob lawyer, W. Jerome Clifford, who is attempting suicide in the woods near their home. When Mark intervenes, he becomes a target of the criminal underworld. The boy is forced to seek legal protection from Regina "Reggie" Love, a lawyer and recovering alcoholic. As they navigate the legal system, they must evade the dangerous influence of the mob and a politically ambitious U.S. Attorney who is using the case for his own gain. The siblings are caught in a high-stakes game of survival where the location of a murdered senator's body becomes the ultimate prize.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After Mark Sway witnesses W. Jerome Clifford's suicide attempt, he and his brother Ricky are targeted by the mob. The mob's leader, Sulari, wants to know what the boys know about the location of a murdered senator. Mark's lawyer, Reggie Love, attempts to negotiate for the boys' safety while being pressured by the ambitious U.S. Attorney, Roy Foltrigg. It is revealed that the senator's body is hidden in Clifford's boathouse. While the police investigate the suicide, the mob's enforcer, Muldano, is ordered to move the body and eliminate the witnesses. In a tense confrontation at the boathouse, Mark and Reggie manage to escape Muldano's men. Foltrigg eventually agrees to provide the boys with protection in exchange for the body's location. Following the recovery of the body, Foltrigg prepares for a political run, and the Sway family is placed into the witness protection program under new identities.
- First release year
- 1994
- Runtime (minutes)
- 121
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Joel Schumacher
- Writers
- Akiva Goldsman · screenplay; Robert Getchell · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Susan Sarandon; Tommy Lee Jones; Brad Renfro · Mark Sway; Mary-Louise Parker; Anthony LaPaglia; Anthony Edwards; Ossie Davis
- Genres
- Southern Gothic; legal thriller
- Themes
- Survival; Legal Justice; Family Protection
- Tone and mood
- Suspenseful; Serious
- Setting
- Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana during the 1990s.
- Premise and plot tags
- Legal Drama; Crime Thriller; Witness Protection
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1993 novel by John Grisham
- Franchise connections
- TV series of the same name
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews, with praise for the performances of Sarandon, Jones, and Renfro.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 78% · review count: 40; Metacritic · score: 65; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A+ to F
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Actress · 67th Academy Awards · nominated; BAFTA Award · Best Actress in a Leading Role · 48th British Academy Film Awards · won; Young Artist Award · Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film · 16th Youth in Film Awards · won; Chicago Film Critics Association Award · Most Promising Actor · nominated
- Production trivia
- Over 6,000 actors auditioned for the role of Mark Sway.; The character Muldano was spelled 'Muldanno' in the original novel.; The film was shot in both Mississippi and Tennessee.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…