Where to Stream The Best John Grisham Legal Dramas Starring Tom Cruise, Matt Damon and More

For decades, John Grisham has enthralled readers with his page-turning legal thrillers featuring lawyers of all types, from the friendly small-town type to the greedy corporate type, as well as unconventional street lawyers, crooked lawyers and more. This week, Grisham released his latest book, The Widow. In this thriller, Simon Latch is a small-town lawyer whose client is a widow who claims she has millions of dollars in Coca-Cola and Walmart stock and is in need of a will. When she dies unexpectedly, he’s charged with her murder.

But the attorney-turned-bestselling author has written more than 40 novels since his debut in 1989—most of them set in the South—and several of his stories have gone on to become blockbuster films featuring mega-watt celebrities, from Julia Roberts to Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington and more. We share our top five favorites and include details on where you can stream them below. 

‘The Firm’ (1993) 

In 1993, Grisham’s novel The Firm was made into a film starring Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman and Jeanne Tripplehorn. The plot follows a young lawyer named Mitch McDeere after he joins a prestigious law firm. But he soon learns that several other attorneys in the firm have died while working at the firm—and that their deaths seem a bit fishy. Soon McDeere discovers that the firm is a front for the mafia and the FBI wants him to risk everything to help bring the firm down. 

The Firm is available to stream on Paramount+. 

‘The Pelican Brief’ (1993) 

Also released in 1993 was The Pelican Brief, a film that’s sure to have viewers on the edge of their seats. When law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) writes a brief speculating about the motive behind the murders of two Supreme Court Justices, she and her loved ones become the killer’s next target. Seeing no way out, she goes on the run in the hopes of surviving. To do so, she needs the help of investigative journalist Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington), an investigative journalist. He agrees to help, putting himself in the line of fire with Darby.

 

The Pelican Brief is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. 

‘The Client’ (1994) 

Between the thrilling plotlines and unexpected twists and turns, this 1994 film is a must-see. When 11-year-old Mark Sway (Brad Renfro) witnesses the suicide of mob lawyer W. Jerome Clifford, the police and the mob think Clifford maybe have given Mark critical information about a murder. To protect himself, Mark turns to a high-profile attorney named Reggie Love (Susan Sarandon), who reluctantly agrees to represent him, even though he’s only a child. But will Reggie’s powers of persuasion be enough to protect Mark from the dangerous people that are after him? 

The Client is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. 

‘A Time To Kill’ (1996) 

This 1996 film follows Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson), a n African American father who is determined to get revenge on the men who sexually assaulted his young daughter. After doing so, he finds himself needing legal help, so he turns to lawyer Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey), but it might not be enough since both the judge and jury have already decided that he’s guilty. A powerful story of maintaining ones identity and knowing that sometimes taking matters into your hands doesn’t work out the way you want it. 

“In A Time to Kill when I kill those guys, I kill them because my daughter needs to know that those guys are not on the planet anymore and they will never hurt her again — that I will do anything to protect her,” Jackson told Vulture in 2022, “That’s how I played that character throughout. And there were specific things we shot, things I did to make sure that she understood that, but in the editing process, they got taken out. And it looked like I killed those dudes and then planned every move to make sure that I was going to get away with it. When I saw it, I was sitting there like, ‘What the f*ck?’”

A Time To Kill is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. 

‘The Rainmaker’ (1997 & 2025) 

1997’s The Rainmaker was one of Matt Damon’s first leading roles. The story follows inexperienced lawyer Rudy Baylor (Damon), who finds himself working for a personal-injury lawyer in his shady law firm. Soon Rudy finds himself in over his head as he juggles his work on a groundbreaking case against a corrupt insurance company and his new relationship with Kelly Riker (Claire Danes), a woman who is currently married to an abusive husband. The film was recently remade in a 2025 TV series with a new cast, including Milo Callaghan, who took on the role of Rudy. 

“Matt Damon is the GOAT [greatest of all time]; he is the guy!” Callaghan told the Digital Journal in August of this year. ““Those are huge shoulders to stand on top of but I wanted to honor his performance, so I watched it [the original movie], and then I forgot about it, and I did my own thing. Mostly, I focused on the script.” 

The 1997 Rainmaker is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, and the 2025 Rainmaker is available to stream on Peacock.