Absolute Power
Director: Clint Eastwood.
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Judy
Davis, Scott Glenn, Dennis Haysbert.
This is a movie I went in to really wanting to like. I hadn't been to
a intrigue/thriller film for a while and Mr. Clint Eastwood, of more
recent years, often has an interesting spin on the genre. I came out
of the movie not really sure how I felt. I kept listing pros and
cons. Some aspects of the movie I loved and some aspects left me with
the feeling of "what were they thinking?"
Let's start with the pluses. It is an interesting premise. The idea
of a thief witnessing a murder by an incredibly powerful person and
the ensuing dilemma is a good one. (Side whinge: why are they called
two-way mirrors? Surely they're just one-way mirrors? Wouldn't a
two-way mirror reflect both ways?)
Another major plus is the interaction between Mr. Ed Harris (Seth) and
Mr. Clint Eastwood (Luther). Their scenes together, particularly at
lunch, are
superb. I wished for more scenes of this kind. In fact, Mr. Ed
Harris interacting with just about anyone in this movie is pretty
good. He seems to be having a grand old time. Rather than the
cliched police type, stressed and pressured by his job, he appears to
like his job and attacks it with gusto.
Also, some of the support players are wonderful. Ms. Judy Davis, as
the chief of staff, gives a good performance, as does Mr. Scott Glenn
as the good guy caught in the midst of the power struggle.
Unfortunately his character dwindles to a common stereotype by the end
of the movie. His tete-a-tete with Ms. Judy Davis, however, where
Ms. Davis ends by stating "Well, you win the pissing contest" is
probably the funniest part of the movie.
My list of pluses depleted, I realise the balance is tipped in favour
of the minuses. Mr. Gene Hackman plays that role
(cf. Unforgiven, The Firm, No Way Out).
It's hard to tell whether he's doing his job because we've seen it all
before. Surely he must get sick of playing the same character, over
and over again. I sure get sick of watching it.
Mr. Dennis Haysbert's role is another minus for me. The gleam in his
eye as he took part in the unfolding events makes him a completely
one-dimensional character. Similarly, the father-daughter
relationship is a bit stereotyped and all the major issues troubling
the relationship are swept under the carpet by film's end.
The whole car cliff scene was a bit strange. Firstly, it's not a
great way to ensure that someone is dead and there is no way that it
is going to look like an accident. Secondly, isn't this a cover-up?
There are other cars around and the lead up events would have made it
pretty clear who was responsible. Also, as they were leaving, surely
they would have spotted Luther?
Are we really supposed to believe Walter Sullivan (Mr. E.G. Marshall)
as a hero? At first, I thought Seth was being sarcastic when he
referred to him as "such a good man," but apparently not. In spite of
over fifty years age difference between himself and his wife (he
wanted his wife to outlive him), his immense wealth (he was poor as a
child) and his strange bedroom habits (his wife suggested it and he
didn't like it), he is portrayed almost as the wronged innocent.
And the gun assembly scene! I felt a time warp as I was back reading
The Day of the Jackal. Mildly amusing at first, but just too
darn long. In fact, the pacing is a bit off for the whole movie.
Parts of the movie, as I watched them, I consciously thought "this
should be tense," but it wasn't. The cafe scene builds up the tension
only to let it slip away much too easily. The initial bedroom scene
between Mr. Gene Hackman and Ms. Melora Hardin has the wrong mood
completely. Perhaps because I knew what was coming but nothing seems
to follow and it all seems a bit contrived, just to get us to our
interesting premise.
There are more minuses but most of them involve revealing more of the
plot than I have already. By now it's clear that the minuses
outweigh the pluses. Absolute Power is an interesting idea
with a few good performances: not enough to grab and hold the viewer
for the required time. The flashes of brilliance (although brilliance
may be too strong a word) just made the rest of the movie even more
dull and lack-lustre.
Rating: P
© Nikki Lesley 1997