Gene Hackman and David Strathairn gave the best performances in the film

In my personal opinion, I think these two great actors were the stand outs in the movie. Both bring so much depth and humanity to roles that could easily have been phoned in. Hunter was fine but I found her a little actory at times.

David Strathairn is amazing as the older brother, you can see how much he cares for Mitch yet is longing to find his way in the world again. He actually makes you care about him, creating a fully rounded human being who has dreams.

Hackman was brilliant because of how much sadness he brings to Avery, you get a sense that The Firm really took everything out of him. Under the flashy and confident lawyer is someone who is yearning for something and is sad, and he finds it in Mitch's wife. It makes you wonder that Hackman's character is what Tom Cruise's character could have ended up as if he stayed till he was Avery's age. You get a sense that Avery was a lot like Mitch, he joined the fim with so many hopes and dreams and it eventually took away everything from him and destroyed him on the inside. In that sense Hackman wants Mitch to get away, so you get a sense that he also cares about Mitch, so he doesnt make the same mistake he did. Just like Avery replies when Abbey asks what will The Firm do to him he replies "Whatever they did, they did it a long time ago".