The Pelican Brief (1993)

After two Supreme Court judges are murdered, law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) writes a thesis which implicates the President. By means of her tutor and lover (Sam Shepard), this seemingly outrageous theory reaches the FBI and CIA who pull out all the stops in a bid to thwart her meddling. When Darby's lover is also killed, Washington Post reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington) joins forces with her to get to the truth.

Fans of novelist John Grisham's work will recognise this adaptation of his best-selling novel. His golden touch was so admired in Hollywood that the rights were optioned for the screenplay before he had even written the book. Grisham wrote the character of Darby Shaw with Julia Roberts in mind.