John Grisham is one of the best-selling authors worldwide whose works have been adapted into several acclaimed feature films. Known primarily for his legal thrillers, greatest directors ever have adapted Grisham’s work.

All-time great actors like Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, and Denzel Washington have starred in movies based on Grisham’s novels and provided audiences with nail-biting thrillers that have left their mark on the genre as a whole. While Grisham has also dabbled in other genres like holiday stories or coming-of-age tales of resilience, it was his writings that unpack the legal system and the nature of justice that have truly stood the test of time. With novels that maintain a cinematic energy, it’s no surprise there have been plenty of great Grisham movie adaptations.

10 Christmas With The Kranks (2004)

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Christmas with the Kranks was far removed from the kind of intense, politically stirring thrillers that viewers have come to expect from John Grisham adaptations. As the most recent feature film version of one of Grisham’s books, this Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis movie was based on the comedic novel Skipping Christmas, which, although filled with funny satirical observations on the holiday season, still felt like one of the author’s lesser works.

Another John Grisham movie, Mickey, was also released in 2004, with an original screenplay by the author. This baseball movie focused on a small-town Little League team and featured Grisham acting as the LLWS Commissioner.

Panned by critics upon release, this story was about a married couple whose plan to skip Christmas and go on a cruise was curtailed when their daughter unexpectedly decided to come home. Christmas with the Kranks has received some retrospective praise, as it must be itted that the bizarre sentimentality, slapstick humor, and strong performances have their high points. As an adaptation of a work by one of the best-selling authors of all time, Christmas with the Kranks was not all bad, but it just couldn’t live up to the lofty standards of the best Grisham movies.

9 A Painted House (2003)

A Painted House by John Grisham

A Painted House from 2001 was John Grisham’s first novel outside of the legal thriller genre, and it received a Hallmark TV adaptation in 2003. This domestic story was inspired by Grisham’s childhood in Arkansas and told the story of a family and their migrant workers struggling to raise and sell cotton. While their young son dreams of a better life, the challenging conditions of a particularly tough season help him learn more about himself in this coming-of-age tale of resilience and innocence.

This TV movie is among the least well-known of all the adaptations of Grisham’s work, and A Painted House often gets forgotten in discussions about the writer’s movies. While this 1950s-period film was slightly meandering and did not quite manage to capture the emotional power of its source material, the characters were still believable, and the harsh realities of life on a farm were explored. A Painted House showcased that not everyone has an easy life and that even bright-eyed kids’ eventually have to come face-to-face with the sacrifices their family makes.

8 The Chamber (1996)

The Chamber by John Grisham

One John Grisham adaptation that even the author cannot stand was The Chamber, which he described as a “train wreck” (via Film Stories.) Despite a star-studded cast including Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway, Grisham said he made a “fundamental error when I sold the film rights before I finished writing the book” and that the end results were “dreadful.” While this story about a young lawyer fresh out of law school trying to get his grandpa off death row had many of the tenets of a classic Grisham thriller, it just did not live up to his greatest adaptations.

While Hackman gave a great performance as the elderly convict Sam Cayhall, what made him unlike other Grisham defendants was that he was also an irredeemable racist. Underneath the surface, The Chamber had a point to make about hateful attitudes toward African Americans and Jewish people, yet its themes never fully managed to come together into a cohesive whole. When Grisham stated that “Gene Hackman was the only good thing in it,” he was not far from the truth.

7 The Gingerbread Man (1998)

Based on a manuscript by John Grisham

The Gingerbread Man was adapted from a discarded John Grisham manuscript by screenwriter Al Hayes and directed by Robert Altman. With some big names involved in the production, this legal thriller began with a lawyer trying to help his lover put her father behind bars, yet everybody’s life was in danger when he escaped. Without a director as accomplished as Altman, The Gingerbread Man would have been a mediocre movie, although his signature touches elevate it to just okay.

The Gingerbread Man featured an A-list cast, including Kenneth Branagh as the morally dubious lawyer, Robert Duvall as the dangerously unpredictable father, and Robert Downey Jr. as a criminal investigator. Sadly, The Gingerbread Man failed to live up to the best work of either Altman or Grisham and stands as a lesser achievement in each of their bodies of work. This works well as a by-the-numbers thriller to the time but won’t leave viewers pondering for days like the best of Grisham’s writings.

6 Runaway Jury (2003)

The Runaway Jury by John Grisham

John Grisham’s best legal thrillers delve into the complexities of morality, justice, and the hypocrites of the legal system itself. This was certainly the case for Runaway Jury, a big-budget adaptation of a Grisham novel that explored a high-stakes game of cat and mouse where a juror and his girlfriend seem to be able to sway the jury to deliver any verdict they want in a case against a gun manufacturer. As a critique of the corporate influence on justice, this story addressed how wealth and power can tip the scales of justice in whatever direction those with leverage see fit.

Runaway Jury encouraged audiences to think critically about the legal system and featured some great performances from John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and Rachel Weisz. While the plot of Runaway Jury occasionally stretches the limits of believability, the smart script and edge-of-your-seat twists kept things thrilling throughout. Although Runaway Jury changed a lot from Grisham’s book, which originally dealt with tobacco manufacturers, it maintained the ethos of its message.

5 The Client (1994)

The Client by John Grisham

As the first of two John Grisham adaptations by director Joel Schumacher, The Client deals with the author’s consistent themes of moral courage and systemic corruption as a suspect's legal rights are ignored and he’s interrogated without a lawyer. However, The Client featured a spin on this well-worn premise, as the person at the heart of this story was an 11-year-old boy who unwittingly became entangled in a mob-related case. With an incredible debut performance from Brad Renfro as a child in need of legal aid, The Client was as gripping as it was thoughtful.

At its core, The Client explored the vulnerability of everyday people caught up in a corrupt system as Susan Sarandon played the lawyer trying to protect a child from the ruthless practices of an attorney, played by Tommy Lee Jones. While the young boy’s fear and distrust of authority meant he held back telling everything he knew, The Client showcased the legal system's willingness to put their own goals ahead of the safety of a child. As a story that’s powerfully applicable to real-life cases, The Client highlighted the value of lawyers as not just advocates but also protectors.

4 The Firm (1993)

The Firm by John Grisham

As the first of many adaptations of John Grisham’s work, The Firm was also one of his best-known legal thrillers. With Tom Cruise as the promising Harvard law graduate Mitch McDeere, what starts as him excited to a prestigious firm soon turns into a disappointing realization of the sinister realities of the legal system. As Mitch starts to uncover the dark secrets hidden just below the surface, he’s exposed to everything from money laundering to tax schemes.

The Firm was an enjoyable unpacking of ruthless corporations and one of Cruise’s best dramatic performances. With ever-present Grisham themes of the deception and dishonesty of the legal system, ing roles from Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, and Holly Hunter elevate this powerful thriller to classic status. The Firm was a hit at the box office (via The Numbers), taking in over $270 million against its $42 million budget and kickstarted a litany of adaptations of Grisham novels in subsequent years.

3 The Pelican Brief (1993)

The Pelican Brief by John Grisham

The innate danger of seeking the truth and the deathly reactions of those who want it concealed were central to The Pelican Brief. Featuring incredible performances from Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts, this legal thriller saw a journalist and a law student embroiled in a conspiracy that went straight to the top and even implicated the President of the United States. As two Supreme Court justices were mysteriously killed, Washington’s Gray Grantham and Roberts’ Darby Shaw become the only ones who can reveal the truth of their deaths to the world.

With themes of whistleblowing and ability, The Pelican Brief highlighted the power of great journalism and the lengths brave sources and whistleblowers go to ensure truth prevails. With plenty of heart-racing twists and turns, this smart thriller managed to keep the stakes high while keeping the violence to a minimum. With themes of environmentalism, corporate greed, and underhanded corruption, The Pelican Brief featured everything audiences want from a Grisham adaptation.

2 The Rainmaker (1997)

The Rainmaker by John Grisham

The Rainmaker saw famed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola provide his own take on a John Grisham legal thriller in a stylish and thoughtful adaptation. Featuring Matt Damon as a lawyer who has newly ed the bar utilizing his idealistic values to take on a fraudulent insurance company, the inexperience of Rudy Baylor was actually an assist as he still had the bright-eyed optimism and belief in the justice system needed to take on this multimillion-dollar lawsuit.

With a talented ing cast including Danny DeVito and Jon Voight, Coppola succeeded in maintaining the small details that make up the young lawyers' existence, and this intelligent story showcased how safeguards are needed to protect individuals from the harmful desires of greedy corporations. The Rainmaker posed the question of whether the legal system exists to protect the population or merely serve the purposes of the powerful in an impactful and thought-provoking way. As a great late-career release from Coppola, The Rainmaker was a top-tier John Grisham adaptation.

1 A Time To Kill (1996)

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

The greatest of all the many John Grisham adaptations was A Time to Kill, directed by Joel Schumacher. This thought-provoking exploration of the legal system, racial prejudices, and taking the law into one’s own hands featured astounding performances from Samuel L. Jackson as an African-American father who kills the two white men who brutally sexually assaulted his ten-year-old daughter and Matthew McConaughey as the lawyer defending him.

While Carl Lee Hailey’s (Jackson) guilt was clear, the question of whether he should be imprisoned divided his community. The racism inherent in this small Mississippi town became more pronounced as the of the Ku Klux Klan began spreading hate and enacting their own warped version of justice against anyone associated with the case's defense team. A Time to Kill forces viewers to confront the true nature of right and wrong and question what they would do if someone tried to destroy the innocence of one of their loved ones.

Source: Film Stories, The Numbers