Visible crew/equipment: In the scene where Tom Cruise is crossing over to Mud Island, you can see the reflection of the rotor blades on the monorail from the helicopter which is filming.
The Firm (1993)
Directed by: Sydney Pollack
Starring: Gene Hackman, Tom Cruise, Ed Harris, Hal Holbrook, Jeanne Tripplehorn
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.
Continuity mistake: When Tom Cruise first encounters Gene Hackman, Gene is nonchalantly leaning in a doorway with both hands in his pockets. In the next shot, Gene is holding a briefcase that wasn't there before. It's a good thing the briefcase arrived, since Gene makes mention of it immediately after. (00:17:00)
Trivia: Holly Hunter's role is one of the shortest Oscar nominated performances. She only appears on screen for about six minutes total.
Trivia: Director Sydney Pollack provides the voice of the prison warden on the phone informing Terrance that a prison guard sent an unauthorised fax regarding Mitch's brother Ray.
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.
Wayne Tarrance: Get me a map of Louisiana. GET ME A MAP of louisiana.
Mitch McDeere: Let me get this straight: you want me to steal files from the firm, turn them over to the FBI, send my colleagues to jail.
Wayne Tarrance: They roped you into this.
Mitch McDeere: Breach attorney-client privilege, thus getting myself disbarred for life, then testify in open court against the Mafia.
Wayne Tarrance: Well, unfortunately, Mitch.
Mitch McDeere: Let me ask you something: are you out of your fucking mind?
Question: In the shot where the albino is traveling in the plane to the Mud Islands, then suddenly he's back in Memphis chasing Tom Cruise. How does he travel or get there so fast? Being one shot in the Mud Islands and the next shot in Memphis, it's not possible.
Answer: Mud Island is in Memphis. You either walk across a covered walkway or take a monorail to it. He didn't take plane to get there to chase Tom Cruise.
Question: Storing incriminating mafia files in a "kitchen pantry" at the Firm's Cayman Island bungalow with nothing but a standard door and key lock (instead of a steel vault) to secure them seems risky, inept, and downright unbelievable. Is this how it happened in the book or was it changed for the movie?
Chosen answer: In the book there were indeed incriminating files stored in the firm's condos in the Cayman Islands. There were two adjoining condos, one for senior partners (where incriminating files were stored) and one for junior partners who weren't yet aware of the firm's organized crime connections.
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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 ★