Produced By: John Davis, Sydney Pollack, Scott Rudin

УЧЕБНОЕ ПОСОБИЕ ДЛЯ САМОСТОЯТЕЛЬНОЙ РАБОТЫ

ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ 3 КУРСА МЭО

ПО ФИЛЬМУ “THEFIRM”, 1993г.

Составитель: преподаватель кафедры английского языка № 2

ГриневаМ. В.

The Firm

The Firm promotional movie poster

The Firm, 1993

Plot:A young attorney, Mitch McDeere, is newly employed by a seductive Memphis law firm that seems to have many secrets. When he discovers they are representing organized crime, and what price has been paid by others who have discovered this, he risks his life to escape.

Directed by:Sydney Pollack

Produced by:John Davis, Sydney Pollack, Scott Rudin

Written by:Novel:John Grisham

Screenplay: David Rabe, Robert Towne, David Rayfie

Cast:Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) – protagonist; recent Harvard Law graduate

Abigail "Abby" McDeere (Jeanne Tripplehorn) – Mitch's wife Avery Tolar (Gene Hackman) – Mitch's mentor at the firm Lamar Quin (Terry Kinney) – Mitch's friend who works at the firm Oliver Lambert (Hal Holbrook) – senior partner at the firm Tammy Hemphill (Holly Hunter) – Eddie's secretary

Ray McDeere (David Strathairn) – Mitch's brother

Bill Devasher (Wilford Brimley) – head of security at the firm

Barry Abanks (Sullivan Walker) – owner of scuba diving business

EddieLomax (Gary Busey) – private investigator, friend of Ray McDeere Agent Wayne Terrance (Ed Harris) – the agent in charge of the investigation into the firm

F. Denton Voyles (Steven Hill) – Director of the FBI

The Nordic Man (Tobin Bell) – William Devasher's cold-blooded henchman

Sonny Capps (Jerry Weintraub) – big firm customer from Grand Cayman

Girl on beach (Karina Lombard) – woman who seduced Mitch on the beach in Grand Cayman

Tommie Morolto (Paul Sorvino) – Mob leader of the firm from Chicago Joey Morolto (Joe Viterelli) – Mob leader of the firm from Chicago

Music by:Dave Grusin

Distributed by:Paramount Pictures

Release Date:June 30, 1993

Budget:$42,000,000 US (est.)

Episode 1 (00.00.00-00.24.40)

1.Before You Watch

1.1Read Part 1 (Chapters 1-5) of the book.

1.2In pairs or as a group discuss what episodes from Part 1 of the book you expect to be featured in the film and why.

1.3Match the following words and expressions from the film with their equivalent meaning. Check your answers with the keys.

1. intrusive / a) not to be able to speak in a relaxed way because you are nervous or embarrassed
2. to graduate with honors / b) not to approve of smth.
3. to come up with smth. / c) a level of university degree that is higher than an ordinary degree
4. to frown on smth./doing smth. / d) to start dealing with a problem, situation, or a job in a particular way
5. to be overwhelmed with smth. / e) to do smth. or to allow smb. to do smth. that is not allowed, especially to make things easier on one occasion
6. to go about smth. / f) to experience a very strong emotion, so strong that you cannot think or behave normally
7. to be tongue-tied / g) becoming involved in smth. in a way that is not welcome
8. to bend rules/the law / h) to think of smth. such as an idea or a plan

While You Watch

2.1Watch Episode 1. As you watch, fill in the gaps in the following quotes from the film with the words and expressions from the above Table. Check your answers with the keys.

a)“I can get ______in many situations, sir, but it’s usually with my wife.”

b)“Mitch, I hope you don’t think us ______, but stability in the familyhas a special importance for us.”

c)“I should make certain that we obtain your services”

“How did you ______making certain?”

d)“Meanwhile he’s going to try not to be embarrassed while I remind you that he ______from Harvard ______.”

e)“The firm ______drinking during working hours.”

f)“Look at the deal and see if you can ______anything.”

g) “Do you think I’m talking about breaking the law?”

“No, I just want to figure out how far you want it ______.”

h)“Did you know them well, the men who died?”

“Yes.”

“You must ______with grief.”

2.2While watching, try to identify who said each of the above phrases and in what situation. What happens in the scene? Where is it set? What happened just before it? What happens just after? How does it fit into the movie as a whole?

2.3Comment on the economic meaning of the following quotes.

a)Mr. McKnight: “… I should make certain that we obtain your services before a bidding situation developed.”

b)Mitch (about Avery Tolar): ”My field is to establish limited partnerships through offshore corporations, mainly in the Cayman Islands.” (for “limited partnership” and “Cayman Islands” see Commentary to Part 1 of the Student’s File)

c)Mitch: “So, do we risk an IRS audit?” (for “IRS” see Commentary to Part 1 of the Student’s File)

d)Mitch: “He didn’t know much English, even less about withholding tax.”

2.4Based on the content of Episode 1 logically complete the following sentences. Compare your answers with those of your fellow students.

a)Mitch confessed to the partners that he was usually tongue-tied when ______

______

b)At the interview the partners discouraged Mitch from opening the envelope as______

______

c)According to Mr. Lambert, the difference between Bendini, Lambert and Lock and other law firms was asfollows______

______

d)Abby found the firm weird because ______

______

e)Avery wanted Mitch to make sure their blue-chip client, Sonny Capps, was happy as ______

______

f)As Mitch put it himself, his career choice was predetermined by the factthat______

______

After You Watch

3.1.Discuss the following questions with other students.

a)The interview. How different is it from the one described in the book (consider the setting, the participants, the questions raised, Mitch’s behavior, etc.)? Does the Mitch in the film make an impression of “a seasoned veteran in search of employment”? At the very beginning of the interview Mitch says, “Well, I don’t really know what to say.” Does it seem an appropriate opening phrase for an interviewee to say? How does it characterize Mitch? Mitch and his interviewers act out a trial scene in a court. Who initiated it and why? How did Mitch succeed in convincing the partners that he was worth their offer? Dwell on why Mitch chose to tell the partners that he had no brothers or sisters.

b)After the barbeque Mitch is on cloud nine while Abby is feeling apprehensive. What did she put her bad vibes down to? Is it true to say that it was Abby who knew better what Mitch’s calling was and that he was sure to succeed even if he didn’t jump at this offer though it was second to none?

c)Mitch and Avery are talking shop. Why is it clear that the Mitch in the film is no idealist, fully aware of the intricacies of his trade unlike the Mitch in the book? Avery’s definition of billing. Sum up Mitch’s way into law and that of his mentor. What factors, in your opinion, should be taken into consideration when making a career choice?

d)Describe the Bendini building (its exterior and interior) as shown in the movie or, alternatively, compare Mitch and Abby’s Boston apartment with their new Memphis house using the Topical Vocabulary of Part 1 of the Student’s File.

Commentary

a)(to do) externship=a job that a university student does in order to gain experience in a particular area of work. Externships are usually not paid and last only a short time.

b)placement office=a department at a university which assists students in looking for a job

c)“Objection: ambiguous and vague.”=”Протестую!(=реплика прокурора или адвоката, протест против постановки вопроса и т.п.)Двусмысленно и неопределенно.”

d)“Sustained.”= “Принято!”(=ответ судьи на протест адвоката или прокурора)

e)affirmative action=the practice or principle, when choosing people for a job or an education course, of favoring people who are often treated unfairly especially because of their sex or race=positive discrimination=позитивнаядеятельность/дискриминация=политика/принциправныхвозможностей

f)stilts=ходули;AmE=длинные ноги

g)stately=formal; ceremonious=величественный, важный, степенный

h)square (inf.)=old-fashioned

i)tad (inf.)=a little bit

j)bar exam=see Commentary to Part 1 of the Student’s File

k)a caddy/to caddie (for)=a person who carries golf clubs for smb. else who is playing

l)quarter horse (in the US)=a strong horse breed to run short races, usually races of a quarter of a mile=лошадьдлябеганакороткиедистанции=лошадьранчо

m)Memphis, Tennessee/the Peabody=see Commentary to Part 1 of the Student’s File

n)The BBQ scene is set on the Peabody Hotel roof. Memphis is known for its special barbeque recipes.

o)The street Abby, Mitch, Lamar and Kay are walking along is Beale Street. Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis which is lined with blues clubs and restaurants and houses festivals and outdoor concerts. It used to be a center of the Black community, where a young B. B. King used to play his guitar. He occasionally appears there at the club bearing his name, which he partially owns.

Keys

5.1Exercise 1.3

1-g; 2-c; 3-h; 4-b; 5-f; 6-d; 7-a; 8-e

5.2Exercise 2.1

a) tongue-tied; b) intrusive; c) go about; d) is graduating with honors; e) frowns on; f) come up with; g) bent; h) be overwhelmed with

Episode 2 (00.24.40-00.52.51)

1.Before You Watch

1.1Read Part 2 (Chapters 6-10)and Part 3 (Chapters 11-15) of the book.

1.2In pairs or as a group discuss what episodes from Part 2 and Part 3 of the book you expect to be featured in the film and why.

1.3Match the following words and expressions with their equivalent meaning. Check your answers with the keys.

1. to get carried away / a) to eat smth. using your teeth and jaws in a noisy way
2. squat / b) smb. who talk too much about themselves or the things they achieved
3. (to be) edgy / c) used about smb. who is short and rather fat
4. to watch out / d) to tell smb. in authority about smb. who committed a crime or did smth. dangerous
5. to report smb./smth. / e) to fight or compete against smb.
6. (to be) accident-prone / f) to be in a bad mood because you are worried or nervous
7. a blowhard (AmE; inf.) / g) to be more likely to have accidents than others
8. to munch on smth. / h) to become so excited or involved in smth. that you lose control of your feelings and behavior
9. to take on smb. / i) smth. that has been left out of a law or legal document that people can use to avoid obeying it
10. a loophole (to close a loophole) / j) used to tell smb. to be careful

2.While You Watch

2.1Watch Episode 2. As you watch, fill in the gaps in the following quotes from the film with the words and expressions from the above Table. Check your answers with the keys.

a) “We are flying to the Caymans tomorrow ______Sonny Capps personally.”

b) “Sonny, let’s not ______.”

c) “… next year they ______, change regs (=regulations).”

d) “One was, I don’t know, ______, heavy.”

e) “Anything ______?”

“Yeah. There’s some stuff next to the fridge.”

f) “Listen, Capps is a tough guy, but he’s also a ______.”

g) “You should ice it, you should also ______the guy.”

h) “If those guys were feds, you better ______.”

i) “The lawyers at your firm sure seem ______.”

j) “When I spotted your car in the car port it made him ______.”

2.3 Comment on the economic meaning of the following quotes.

a)Avery: “Just redraft this section on repatriation of offshore funds.”

b)Avery: “This new plan is very aggressive. It defers all your tax liability for years.”

c)Mitch: “… your stock would be the face amount of your installment. The stock will have no value, but it’s offset against income. You defer your tax in full though you have a bankable LC. … It’s still the best interest-free loan you’ll ever get.”

d)Avery: “The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is … .”

2.4Based on the content of Episode 2 logically complete the following sentences. Compare your answers with those of your fellow students.

a)Should Mitch have failed the bar exam______

______

b)The firm “looked like a health hazard” as______

______

c)Mitch was burning himself out so that______

______

d)Avery was anxious to meet with Sonny Capps face-to-face as______

______

e)Sonny eventually “grabbed the proposal” because______

______

f)Ray didn’t hold grudges although______

______

g)But for Ray______

______

3.After You Watch

3.1.Discuss the following questions with other students.

a)In the book Mitch smelt the rat and started his investigation of the firm’s activities. What induced his investigation in the film?

b) Mitch is having a talk with Abby. What did Abby imply by saying that “this is not about being rich and poor, but about a mother in a trailer park and a brother you pretend you don’t have.”? Do you agree with Mitch that money may seem “a bothersome fly you just wave away”, only if one is rich? Do you think that husband and wife should have the same social background to be happy?

c) Mitch and Avery meet with Sonny Capps in the Caymans. Outline the subject and the outcome of the meeting. What role, do you think, was assigned to Mitch before the talks? Was it appropriate for Mitch, a rookie, to cut in between Avery, a full-blown lawyer, and Sonny, the firm’s blue-chip client? Mitch as a negotiator. Why did he prove more persuasive than Avery? Was the strong language appropriate?

d) Avery is enlightening Mitch on the essence of the legal profession by giving him a multiple-choice test. Which of the answer would you choose?

e)How can you account for Mitch’s spontaneous decision to visit his lost brother in prison? As Abby put it, Mitch pretended he had no brother. Can it be qualified as a betrayal? Can you spot any signs of remorse in Mitch? Did Ray hold grudges?

f)Mitch at Lomax’s office. Why was Eddie so keen on helping Mitch though he realized that it was very dangerous?

g)Abby said in passing that it was Avery who had given her a lift home. Why did she want Mitch to know about it? What was Mitch’s reaction like? Is the Mitch who returned home from the Caymans the Mitch he used to be? What, in your opinion, might have caused changes in him?

4.Commentary

a)to be punchy (here)=to be too tired to take in what other people are saying

b)attorney=see Commentary to Part 1 of the Student’s File

c)to split a charter=to share the cost of renting a boat

d)(to be) a dead giveaway=smth. that shows the truth about smb. or smth.

e)Gentlemen’s Quaterly (GQ)=a monthly men’s magazine focusing on fashion, style and culture for men, through articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, travel, sports and technology, and books

f)joint (here)=a prison

g)parole (to come up for parole)=permission for smb. to leave prison on the condition that they promise to behave well=досрочноеосвобождение

h)statutory rape=see Commentary to Part 3 of the Student’s File

5.Keys

5.1Exercise 1.3

1-h; 2-c; 3-f; 4-j; 5-d; 6-g; 7-b; 8-a; 9-e; 10-i

5.2Exercise 2.1

a) to take on; b) get carried away; c) are going to close this loophole; d)squat; e) to munch on; f) blowhard; g) report; h) watch out; i) accident-prone; j) edgy

Episode 3 (00.52.51-01.20.31)

1.Before You Watch

1.1Read Part 4 (Chapters 16-20)of the book.

1.2In pairs or as a group discuss what episodes from Part 4 of the book you expect to be featured in the film and why.

1.3Match the following words and expressions with their equivalent meaning. Check your answers with the keys.

1. legitimate / a) having very high moral principals
2. to testify / b) to understand the facts of a situation and be able to tell them correctly
3. to sue / c) to make a formal statement of what is true, especially in a court of law
4. to harass / d) to charge smb. with a crime; to come to look for smth. illegal
5. to bust smth./smb. / e) to make a legal claim against smb., usually for money, because they harmed you
6. an indictment / f) smth. that cannot be attacked, changed or destroyed
7. (to be) high-minded / g) acceptable or allowed by law
8. to get smth. straight / h) to make smb.’s life unpleasant by saying offensive things or threatening them
9. to coerce / i) to receive praise for what smb. has done
10. inviolate / j) an argument or disagreement, especially with smb. in an official position
11. to take credit / k) to force smb. to do smth. that they do not want to do by threatening them
12. a debriefing/to debrief / l) an official written statement charging smb. with a criminal offence
13. a run-in / m) when smb. is asked questions about an experience they have just had, in order to gather information

2.While You Watch

2.1Watch Episode 3. As you watch, fill in the gaps in the following quotes from the film with the words and expressions from the above Table. Check your answers with the keys.

a)“I think it’s a carefully balanced proposal. I think it’s ______, but I think it’s and fair-minded.”

b)“They set up ______businesses with dirty money.”

c)“Why don’t you get ______and ______it all up?”

“We have to have smb. on the inside.”

d)“Let me ______. I steal the files from the firm, turn them over to the FBI, ______against my colleagues, send them to jail and get disbarred.”

e)“They didn’t try ______you?”

“Did they offer you money?”

f)“Now we ought to build a case and ______them.”

“This is pure ______.”

g)“Write down every little thought. I’ll be happy ______.”

h)“Mr. Lambert and Mr. Lock told me about your little ______with the FBI.”

i)“So, Mitch, this is a ______.”

j)“I’ll maintain the confidence and preserve ______the secrets of my client.”

2.3Comment on the economic meaning of the following quotes.

a)Mr. Voyles: “They set up legitimate businesses with dirty money from drugs, prostitution … all cash moved offshore.”

b)Mr. Voyles: “We need to see copies of contracts, clients’ bank records and articles ofincorporation.”

2.4Based on the content of Episode 3 logically complete the following sentences. Compare your answers with those of your fellow students.

a)The FBI could not break the firm without an insider that is why ______

______

b)According to Tarrance, the Mafia will get to Mitch as soon as______

______

c)Mitch realized that if he divulged the information about the firm activities

______

d)Mitch explained to Abby that on condition he cooperated with the FBI ______

______

e)In DeVasher’s opinion, the FBI could use the fact that ______