MovieChat Forums > The Pelican Brief (1993) Discussion > Robert Culp's portrayal of the President...

Robert Culp's portrayal of the President - shockingly bad


I don't blame Culp so much as I blame Pakula. His portrayal, everything from his lines, to his delivery, to his facial expressions, it has to be one of the worst performances of his career.

I grow tired of people portraying President's as idiots. NONE of these men are stupid. People who like to think they are show their own ignorance who put forth that POV.

I'm sure that Pakula did this mainly because the President in this film was a conservative. What better reason to then show the President as an disengaged buffoon more interested in teaching his dog new tricks than actually running the country.

The worst scene is when Culp and Goldwyn are leaving one of the SCOTUS funerals, and he tells him they could be charged with Obstruction of Justice. Culp looks like he has bad gas when he utters "Oh gawd!!!"

This is an okay, albeit dated, thriller. But there are some real issues with this film.

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The POTUS in the book is blatantly portrayed as a fool, cowed by Coal and submissive even to the FBI & CIA heads. The portrayal in the book is unflattering and quite contaminated by the vision Grisham had of G.W.H. Bush.

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