Gminski
I haven't seen this in a few years, but lately i keep catching it in the middle...can someone please explain to me who Gminski is?
Thanks
I haven't seen this in a few years, but lately i keep catching it in the middle...can someone please explain to me who Gminski is?
I know! Its hard to remember the numerous characters and subtle subplot intricacies in this movie. The character Bob Gminski is the CIA Director. He only appears in 2 or 3 scenes early on in the film.
Early in the movie on the morning after the assassinations of the two Supreme Court Justices, CIA Director Bob Gminski (William Atherton) and FBI Director Denton Voyles (James B. Sikking) meet in the oval office with the president (Robert Culp) and the White House Chief of Staff, Fletcher Coal (Tony Goldwyn). As they leave the oval office meeting, Gminski reveals his disgust for Fletcher Coal to Voyles, an opinion that Voyles apparently shares.
After FBI Special Counsel Gavin Vereek (John Heard) receives Darby Shaw's pelican brief from his old friend Tulane University Law Professor Thomas Callahan (Sam Shepard), Vereek passes it on to his FBI colleagues and eventually to Director Voyles. Voyles orders his white house liaisons to pass a copy of the pelican brief to Fletcher Coal, in part to watch Coal squirm, and more importantly, to use it as leverage to get the president to stop Coal from criticizing the FBI for the security lapses that allowed the two Supreme Court Justices to be assassinated. Voyles soon offers the president a gentlemen's agreement: Voyles will forget about the pelican brief for awhile, if in return, the president will stop Coal from publicly assigning blame to FBI.
Soon after, Gminski and his CIA associates are seen in a New Orleans hotel room secretly observing Darby, who has checked into a nearby hotel room as she desperately tries to evade her pursuers. Gminski realizes out-loud, that Darby's brief must be accurate, because she is being pursued by multiple assassins who are determined to eliminate her.
Since you have seen the end of the film, you'll remember that Voyles concedes that initially, Gminski apparently took the pelican brief more seriously than the FBI did. For this reason, the CIA hired an independent operative (Christopher Murray) to observe and in part, to protect Darby. This operative initially approached Darby just after the car-bomb explosion that killed Thomas Callahan. Claiming to be with the New Orleans Police Department, the operative identified himself to Darby as, "Detective Rupert." Voyles reveals that it was 'Rupert' who killed the assassin Khamel (Stanley Tucci), as Khamel masqueraded as Gavin Vereek. Seen wearing a New Orleans Saints ballcap, Rupert acted when he observed that Khamel was about to surreptitiously shoot Darby with a concealed pistol.
If you really enjoyed the movie, the excellent John Grisham novel is a worthwhile read.
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Thank you for helping me understand this plot point. I had to go back and look up Gminski to see which actor played him. You have cleared up this angle well.
I have only one quibble: I would never use the words "excellent" and "John Grisham novel" in the same sentence. I tried reading "The Client" and after one chapter I found myself wanting to take a red pen to it. I couldn't finish the chapter, let alone the book. I'll acknowledge Grisham's a good plotter, I just find that I don't care for his writing. I did like this film though. Again--it was a good plot--exciting and engaging. Please accept my apologies, especially if you really like his books. May I recommend the books of Dick Francis and Hennig Mankell for excellent plots and writing.
You're fearless when you recognize why you should be scared of things, but do them anyway--CB