The Client

At the time of filming, author John Grisham had casting approval over all film adaptations of his work, and specified that "no professional child actors in Hollywood" be cast as Mark Sway. He felt that the film wouldn't work with a well-known child actor (sporting a phony accent) in the role and that by casting an unknown in the part (preferably from the Memphis area, where the story is set) the film's credibility wouldn't be compromised. Brad Renfro, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee beat out thousands of actors for the role, including Macaulay Culkin.

If Ricky is in a coma, he would be completely comatose and would not speak or move, so he should have had a feeding tube either in his mouth or in his nose, which he did not have. Ricky would have also had a nasal cannula for oxygen, as all coma patients do. He is not in a coma because his eyes are open.

However, the doctors simply state he is suffering from PTSD. It is Mark who describes it as a "coma," which is within the understanding of an 11-year-old boy.