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Absolute Power
The screenplay has its problems, and the direction spoon feeds too much to the viewer, but Clint Eastwood hits a positive mark as the star and director of Absolute Power, an often ugly and compromising crime drama centered around a lot of people with a great deal of power who think said power condones often unconscionable behavior.
The 1997 Malpaso production stars Eastwood as Luther Whitney, a career jewel thief who has just broken into the home of a wealthy philanthropist (EG Marshall) and has just pocketed thousands in cash and jewelry from the vault in the master bedroom. Luther is forced to hide in the vault when he hears a couple enter the room and begin having rough sex that gets out of control, resulting in the woman's death. It's not long before we realize that the victim is the philanthropist's wife (Melora Hardin) and the man roughing her up is the President of the United States, Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman).
The President's Chief of Staff (Judy Davis) and his secret service team (Scott Glenn, Dennis Haysbert) appear almost immediately to cover up what happened. Somehow, Luther manages to get out of the room with the murder weapon, realizing he might need it as collateral to save his life. Attempts to murder him before he gets out of the mansion fail and a deadly hunt begins for the thief, which eventually involves his estranged daughter (Laura Linney).
The screenplay is based on a novel by David Baldacci, that was adapted for the screen by two time Oscar winning screenwriter William Goldman. Baldacci and Goldman have crafted a solid basic story, but there were several plot points I just didn't buy. When Luther is fleeing the mansion on foot being pursued by the secret service guys, we see the speed at which he's moving and the speed at which they're moving and I just didn't buy that they didn't close enough to take him out. Was also hard to believe that during the cover up of the crime scene with the Chief of Staff that Luther was able to get hold of the attempted murder weapon, a letter opener. And after witnessing Luther's initial awkward reunion with his daughter, I just didn't buy him agreeing to meet her in a public place a couple days. Most of all, it aggravated that is story put all kinds of targets on Luther's back while the President walked around without a care in the world.
This is another one of those movies that is very protective of the central character and I'm not so sure that Luther would have come out alive at the end of this story. The director also seems to feel the need to spoon feed us things that don't need to be fed to us, like his escape from the assassination attempt or Haysbert's hospital mission. Loved that scene of Hackman and Davis on the dance floor though.
As always with a Malpaso film, production values are first rate and Eastwood has surrounded himself with a superb cast. Gene Hackman drips evil as the President and I loved the fact that even though Hackman and Eastwood are the leads in the film, they have no scenes together in the film, like Hanks and Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle. Linney, Davis, Glenn, and Haysbert make the most of their roles as does the always watchable Ed Harris as the head detective on the case, who feels the need to remind Linney that he lives alone. A solid little drama as long as you don't think about it too much.
The screenplay has its problems, and the direction spoon feeds too much to the viewer, but Clint Eastwood hits a positive mark as the star and director of Absolute Power, an often ugly and compromising crime drama centered around a lot of people with a great deal of power who think said power condones often unconscionable behavior.
The 1997 Malpaso production stars Eastwood as Luther Whitney, a career jewel thief who has just broken into the home of a wealthy philanthropist (EG Marshall) and has just pocketed thousands in cash and jewelry from the vault in the master bedroom. Luther is forced to hide in the vault when he hears a couple enter the room and begin having rough sex that gets out of control, resulting in the woman's death. It's not long before we realize that the victim is the philanthropist's wife (Melora Hardin) and the man roughing her up is the President of the United States, Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman).
The President's Chief of Staff (Judy Davis) and his secret service team (Scott Glenn, Dennis Haysbert) appear almost immediately to cover up what happened. Somehow, Luther manages to get out of the room with the murder weapon, realizing he might need it as collateral to save his life. Attempts to murder him before he gets out of the mansion fail and a deadly hunt begins for the thief, which eventually involves his estranged daughter (Laura Linney).
The screenplay is based on a novel by David Baldacci, that was adapted for the screen by two time Oscar winning screenwriter William Goldman. Baldacci and Goldman have crafted a solid basic story, but there were several plot points I just didn't buy. When Luther is fleeing the mansion on foot being pursued by the secret service guys, we see the speed at which he's moving and the speed at which they're moving and I just didn't buy that they didn't close enough to take him out. Was also hard to believe that during the cover up of the crime scene with the Chief of Staff that Luther was able to get hold of the attempted murder weapon, a letter opener. And after witnessing Luther's initial awkward reunion with his daughter, I just didn't buy him agreeing to meet her in a public place a couple days. Most of all, it aggravated that is story put all kinds of targets on Luther's back while the President walked around without a care in the world.
This is another one of those movies that is very protective of the central character and I'm not so sure that Luther would have come out alive at the end of this story. The director also seems to feel the need to spoon feed us things that don't need to be fed to us, like his escape from the assassination attempt or Haysbert's hospital mission. Loved that scene of Hackman and Davis on the dance floor though.
As always with a Malpaso film, production values are first rate and Eastwood has surrounded himself with a superb cast. Gene Hackman drips evil as the President and I loved the fact that even though Hackman and Eastwood are the leads in the film, they have no scenes together in the film, like Hanks and Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle. Linney, Davis, Glenn, and Haysbert make the most of their roles as does the always watchable Ed Harris as the head detective on the case, who feels the need to remind Linney that he lives alone. A solid little drama as long as you don't think about it too much.