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The Pelican Brief

1993 · 141 min · Director: Alan J. Pakula ★ IMDb 6.7 · 105,891 ratings

Show plot summary (may contain spoilers)

Two Supreme Court Justices have been killed. Now a college professor, who clerked for one of the two men and who is also having an affair with one of his students, is given a brief by her that states who probably wanted to see these two men dead. He then gives it to one of his friends, who works for the FBI. When the FBI director reads it, he is fascinated by it. One of the president's men who read it is afraid that if it ever got out, the president could be smeared. So he advises the president to tell the director to drop it, which he does. But later the professor and the girl were out and he was drunk and when he refused to give her the keys, she stepped out of the car. When he started it, it blew up. She then discovers that her place has been burglarized and what was taken were her computer and her disks. Obviously, her brief has someone agitated. She then turns to her boyfriend's friend at the FBI. He agrees to come meet her but before he does, someone shoots him and takes his place. At the meeting, he was about to kill her when someone shoots him. She then decides to turn to Gray Grantham, an investigative reporter, who was contacted by someone who says he has info on the killings but backed out at the last minute. He then meets her and tells her what her brief is, and basically, the man she suspects is a good friend of the president, and is trying to manipulate the outcome of a trial that is now before the Supreme Court. Grantham tells her that her brief can harm the president and although all they have are theories, he asks her to help him, but she wants to leave the country. Then Grantham's editor tells him that they have nothing, that he should drop cause the man she implicated is extremely powerful. Grantham is about to drop it when she says that she will help him. But can they stay alive?

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Emotional fingerprint

The Pelican Brief (1993) — Movie. Top emotional signals: Anxiety 30%, Tension 25%, Curiosity 20%. Source: AI estimate. Shares describe emotional signal, not percentages of people. Your experience may differ. How we measure

  1. Fear15%
  2. Relief10%

AI estimate · no viewer votes yet

How we measure

AI estimate

Share of emotional signal, not the percentage of people or a probability of enjoyment.

Each viewer contributes one response, split equally across their selected emotions. When available, an automated estimate supplies a prior that is blended with those responses. Counts include distinct viewers, not automated estimates or archived anonymous votes. Fewer than 3 viewers is an early estimate; more responses do not guarantee certainty.

Why it feels this way

The strongest emotional signals are Anxiety, Tension, Curiosity. Genres: Drama, Mystery, Crime. AI estimate.

Is it worth watching?

Consider this title if you are looking for Anxiety, Tension and Curiosity. Its IMDb rating of 6.7/10 suggests a generally positive audience reception. For these leading emotions, its Feel Score is 69/100.

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Emotional journey

AI · from subtitles
  • Curiosity
  • Tension
  • Relief

Not enough subtitle evidence

No dominant emotion

Dominant emotion: Curiosity

Dominant emotion: Tension

Dominant emotion: Sadness

Dominant emotion: Relief

Curiosity
Tension
Relief
Emotional journey Emotional intensity over the film’s runtime, from quieter to stronger on a fixed 0–1 scale. Hatched intervals have insufficient subtitle evidence. The table provides the values. Not enough subtitle evidence
Ending hidden

Dominant emotion

Intensity dips around 3 %, then peaks around 78 %.Ending hidden

Emotional journey
%Approximate minuteDominant emotionOverall intensityCuriosityTensionRelief
2.5 %≈ 4′Curiosity33 %33 %27 %0 %
7.5 %≈ 11′Curiosity41 %43 %33 %0 %
12.5 %≈ 18′Curiosity49 %53 %38 %0 %
17.5 %≈ 25′Curiosity50 %51 %39 %0 %
22.5 %≈ 32′Tension55 %48 %49 %0 %
27.5 %≈ 39′Tension61 %48 %60 %1 %
32.5 %≈ 46′Tension60 %45 %60 %4 %
37.5 %≈ 53′Tension60 %45 %60 %6 %
42.5 %≈ 60′Tension63 %53 %61 %9 %
47.5 %≈ 67′Curiosity60 %59 %55 %8 %
52.5 %≈ 74′Curiosity56 %59 %49 %5 %
57.5 %≈ 81′Curiosity54 %55 %49 %5 %
62.5 %≈ 88′Tension53 %51 %49 %3 %
67.5 %≈ 95′Curiosity57 %48 %50 %3 %
72.5 %≈ 102′Sadness66 %48 %59 %9 %
77.5 %≈ 109′Tension68 %55 %64 %14 %
82.5 %≈ 116′Curiosity64 %54 %55 %26 %
87.5 %≈ 123′Relief60 %40 %35 %48 %
92.5 %≈ 130′Relief57 %32 %18 %57 %
97.5 %≈ 137′Not enough subtitle evidenceNot enough subtitle evidenceNot enough subtitle evidenceNot enough subtitle evidenceNot enough subtitle evidence
Man in a hole

Rags to riches: The emotional tone rises from negative to positive.

Riches to rags: The emotional tone falls from positive to negative.

Man in a hole: The tone falls, then recovers.

Icarus: The tone rises, then falls.

Cinderella: The tone rises, falls, then rises again.

Oedipus: The tone falls, rises, then falls again.

AI reading of the film’s English subtitles (dialogue and sound cues) — not viewer votes. How we measure ↗

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Cast

Sam Shepard

Thomas Callahan

John Heard

Gavin Vereek

Tony Goldwyn

Fletcher Coal

James B. Sikking

Denton Voyles

William Atherton

Bob Gminski

RC
Robert Culp

The President

Hume Cronyn

Justice Rosenberg

John Lithgow

Smith Keen

Anthony Heald

Marty Velmano

Stanley Anderson

Edwin Sneller

John Finn

Matthew Barr

Cynthia Nixon

Alice Stark

Jake Weber

Curtis Morgan

CB
Casey Biggs

Eric East

SJ
Sonny Jim Gaines

Sarge

Details

Directed by
Alan J. Pakula
Type
Movies
Released
1993
Runtime
141 min
Country
United States
Ratings
★ IMDb 6.7 · 105,891 ratings
Feels mostly
Anxiety
Data updated

Where to watch

Data: JustWatch · Wikidata

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Emotion overlap shows mood similarity, not a prediction of enjoyment.