The Firm

The Firm (1993)

2 suggested corrections

(18 votes)

Plot hole: In Cayman, a drugged Avery passes out on the bed, fully clothed. Abby is in the kitchen, carrying the Mafia files. The bedroom is in the background, only now Avery is under the covers and undressed. He was drugged and too heavy for Abby to move and undress alone and have enough time to also transport files, copy them, and return everything to the bungalow before Avery awoke. Avery would also know he passed out atop the bed and not under the covers.

raywest

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Suggested correction: When he falls, his head is about 3 feet from the pillow, where it is later in the background. Abby would only need to drag him up the bed. Pretty easy even for someone with Abby's build. Avery's shirt is fully unbuttoned when he falls backwards onto the bed, so removing it would be very simple. Then all she needed to do was drag the cover out from under him and put it over. She could probably do all that in 2 minutes. Also, Avery wouldn't have been suspicious, only confused.

Abby could not possibly have done all that in "2 minutes." A small woman moving and undressing a 180 lb. unconscious man is not an easy task and impossible in that short amount of time. Abby had a limited time to move, copy, and return the files.

raywest

The gender of the people involved is irrelevant. It isn't known that Abby removes Avery's trousers. All we know is that she removes his already unbuttoned shirt, pulls him 3 ft up the bed and puts a sheet over him. My partner and I, who weighs significantly more than I, have just simulated the scene. I was able to move them up the bed, remove their shirt and put a sheet over them in just over 2 minutes. Abby then has an unknown number of hours to deal with the files, which she did.

Character mistake: At the end, when Mitch tells Agent Tarrance that the government can convict the law firm on mail fraud and racketeering, he says he got the idea while he was studying for the bar exam. He actually got the idea from a client earlier in the film when the client was complaining about being over-billed and tells Mitch that every time a bill is mailed through USPS, the firm is committing mail fraud which is a federal offense, punishable by fines and prison.

raywest

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Suggested correction: This is not wholly correct. Mulholland (the client) planted the seed in Mitch's head, but Mitch realised instantly that it was a federal offense, presumably because he had studied it.

Mulholland did more than just plant the seed. He was explaining what the violation was and the consequences, which caused Mitch to remember what he’d studied.

raywest

Factual error: Near the end of the movie, Agent Terrence asks Mitch why he didn't release the recording to the media. Mitch replies that it would have been against the law. This is actually incorrect. Tennessee, where the movie is based, is a one-party consent state. Which means only one party needs to give consent to a conversation being recorded. That one party is Mitch McDeere.

Anthony Lemons

More mistakes in The Firm

McKnight: He lied about his brother.
Avery Tolar: Wouldn't you lie about having a felon in the family to get a job like this?
Bill DeVasher: He ought to be kept on a short leash.
Avery Tolar: Why? You've got nothing to be suspicious about.
Bill DeVasher: I get paid to be suspicious when I've got nothing to be suspicious about.

More quotes from The Firm

Trivia: Holly Hunter's role is one of the shortest Oscar nominated performances. She only appears on screen for about six minutes total.

Cubs Fan

More trivia for The Firm

Question: How does the security boss of the firm listen to the conversation between the wife of Cruise and the secretary of the private detective, in the last scene of the hotel in the Bahamas? Why did he have any reason to suspect anything in the first place?

AnthonyA

Chosen answer: At first the security guy doesn't suspect Mitch any more than any other new associate hired by the firm. His job is to keep a close watch on all new associates to see if they realize the firm has mafia ties. He starts watching Mitch (Tom Cruise) more closely after he was approached by the government agents who wanted him to spy on the firm. He knows that Mitch now suspects there are illegal activities going on and may decide to aid the government. It is also shown that Mitch's house was being bugged, and it can be assumed the resort cabana regularly used by the firm in the Bahamas would also be bugged.

raywest

More questions & answers from The Firm

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