The Client
Directed by Joel Schumacher
- drama
- thriller
- crime
- mystery
The story
A street-wise kid, Mark Sway, sees the suicide of Jerome Clifford, a prominent Louisiana lawyer, whose current client is Barry 'The Blade' Muldano, a Mafia hit-man. Before Jerome shoots himself, he tells Mark where the body of a Senator is buried. Clifford shoots himself and Mark is found at the scene, and both the FBI and the Mafia quickly realize that Mark probably knows more than he says.
What it’s like
Hazy Southern summer light and a grimy, sweat-soaked Memphis street give The Client a warm, dusty palette that tips into dread once the mob and the FBI start closing in. Schumacher's camera stays busy and close, with handheld moves through cramped apartments, cluttered offices and the bleached corridors of government buildings, while the score leans on tense, swelling strings that keep the pulse up. The vibe is anxious and earnest, a thriller with a streetwise, scared heart: a restless late-night watch, or a rainy weekend with the sofa to yourself. Pacing is brisk, with the kid's guardedness softening slowly into trust with a tough, weary lawyer who takes him in. The intensity is moderate: one suicide shown off-screen-adjacent with real shock, some gangster menace and threats, a handful of scuffles and a brief, tense shooting, but no gore and little sexual content. It suits viewers who want a grounded courtroom-adjacent thriller with a real emotional core and a child at its centre, and who can handle sustained suspense without heavy brutality.
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