The Client

: "For the U.S. version of the UK TV show, The Office episode, see The Client (The Office)."

"The Client" (1994) is a legal thriller written by American author John Grisham, set mostly in Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a mix with various legal elements and suspense.

Plot

"The Client" begins with eleven-year old Mark Sway and his younger brother Ricky, who is eight, going into the woods near the Tucker Wheel Estates, a mobile home park where they live with their mother, Dianne. Ricky had earlier caught Mark with some cigarettes and now to keep Ricky's silence, Mark is going to teach Ricky how to smoke. While they are in the woods, a big black 4-door Lincoln ( a black 93 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham in the film) arrives, and soon W. Jerome "Romey" Clifford, a 44-year old lawyer from New Orleans, Louisiana, gets out of the car. His only client at the moment is Barry "The Blade" Muldanno, and now here in the woods of northeast Memphis, Tennessee, he is attempting to commit suicide. Mark and Ricky Sway sit hidden from Clifford and watching him from behind the shiny black car. Clifford, noticeably drunk, puts one end of a garden hose in the exhaust pipe of the car and the other end into a rear passenger window, and rolls up the window, trying to kill himself with carbon monoxide poisoning. Mark, sneaks up, crawling on his stomach, and pulls the hose from the exhaust trying to stop him. After some time Clifford gets out of the car, cursing, and puts the hose back in. Mark repeats pulling the hose from the tailpipe. On the third attempt, Clifford sees the grass moving in the rear view mirror, leaps from the car grabs Mark and pushes him into the car. Jerome then tells Mark why he wants to kill himself, he is convinced that "The Blade" Muldanno is going to murder him anyway and wants to die on his own terms. Clifford is defending Muldanno for the murder of U.S. Senator Boyd Boyette. But, the prosecutors, led by the "Reverend" (for his preaching style in court) Roy Foltrigg, don't have a body. But Muldanno had previously told Clifford that the he buried the body in concrete in Clifford's detached garage, under a boat, while Clifford was on vacation, skiing in Colorado. In the car Clifford keeps drinking Jack Daniels, and taking dalmane and codeine. After a while, the effect of the booze and pills starts to make Clifford pass out and Mark manages to escape. After Clifford realizes this and attempts to go after Mark, he looks around but soon gives up and slides up on the trunk of the car, puts a .38 Special caliber pistol in his mouth, and shoots himself.

Upon seeing the suicide, Ricky, Mark Sway's younger brother, goes into shock. Mark calls the police and is later found at the scene. Police and the FBI discover that Mark was in the car and may have spoken with Jerome Clifford. Clifford knew where the body was buried and the FBI needs this information. The FBI is now after Mark because they believe he knows where the body is. Mark hires a lawyer named Reggie Love (a woman, despite the name) to help him. Mark is reluctant to tell the FBI what he knows because the Mafia has threatened him.

Mark decides to look for the body with Reggie Love. If the body is not where he knows it should be, he will no longer be in danger of being killed by the Mafia. He decides to travel to New Orleans and search for it In New Orleans. It's very early in the morning and when approaching the area of the corpse, the boy and his lawyer see some Mafia henchmen trying to relocate the body. Eventually, Mark realizes he has to do something, so he throws a rock at the neighbor's house and it breaks a window. One of the residents wakes up and comes out with a shotgun while the mafia henchmen run away. Mark and Reggie hide in the woods until they are sure the resident is asleep. They then re-approach the corpse and run away when they see the decaying face of Senator Boyette. Mark later on that day decides to tell the FBI where the body is and enters the witness protection for himself, Ricky and their mother Dianne. The Sway family retreats to a revered hospital in Phoenix to tend to Ricky's severe condition.

Film

A 1994 film based on the novel was directed by Joel Schumacher and starred Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones and Brad Renfro. The film was released on July 20, 1994.

For her work in the film, Susan Sarandon was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role .

The film was so successful that it spawned a TV series of the same name, starring JoBeth Williams and John Heard. However, the TV version lasted only one season (1995-1996).