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The Firm

1993 · directed by Sydney Pollack · 154 min
22,868 feet · Prominence
1,484th of 24,106 films scored
The Rewatchables‘The Firm’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan →

How this film scores

Draw73

Lifetime worldwide gross $270m, re-releases included; about $617m in 2026 money.

Rank450 of 11,051In 19935 of 199

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise71

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics68 baseAwards23 signal → +4 lift

Oscars2 nominated Supporting Actress, Original Score
BAFTAs1 nominated Actress
How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy38

Judged directly: Nineties Grisham hit, badly faded.

Verdict38 of 100IMDb6.9 from 160kWikipedia46k views a monthAge33 years

Scored beside it · 1,890 of 4,039 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 73 praise 71 legacy 38averages 61, placing it at22,868 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

In these careers — elevation for this film

Tom Cruise20,223 ftGene Hackman19,067 ftHolly Hunter18,742 ftWilford Brimley18,357 ftJeanne Tripplehorn18,328 ftEd Harris18,319 ftSydney Pollack18,287 ftHal Holbrook18,221 ftTerry Kinney17,920 ftGary Busey17,655 ftDavid Strathairn17,652 ftTobin Bell17,638 ft