Conspiracy Theory Review
by James Berardinelli (berardin AT cybernex DOT net)July 26th, 1997
CONSPIRACY THEORY
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 5.0
Alternative Scale: ** out of ****
United States, 1997
U.S. Release Date: 8/8/97 (wide)
Running Length: 2:15
MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts, Patrick Stewart
Directors: Richard Donner
Producers: Lauren Shuler-Donner and Joel Silver
Screenplay: Brian Helgeland
Cinematography: John Schwartzman
Music: Carter Burwell
U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers
Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in the assassination of JFK. Water fluoridation isn't designed to protect our teeth, it's a government plot to weaken the will and make everyone a slave of the State. One night, all of the Nobel Prize winners were rounded up at gun point and forced to make sperm donations. (What about the women, I wonder?) And, best of all, Oliver Stone isn't really a conspiracy theory nut, he's a disinformation junkie working for the mysterious "them" (the forces behind covering up all the conspiracies). These and other loopy (and not-so-loopy) ideas make up the background of CONSPIRACY THEORY, the fifth teaming of director Richard Donner and actor Mel Gibson. Alas, the movie itself isn't half as interesting as some of the one-line theories it mentions then quickly forgets about.
Originally, CONSPIRACY THEORY was slated to go toe-to-toe with Columbia's AIR FORCE ONE, but someone at Warner Brothers blinked. It's probably a good thing, because, against the Harrison Ford action vehicle, this film would have gotten buried (it may still get buried, even with the release pushed back two weeks). The storyline for CONSPIRACY THEORY is just as moronic as that of AIR FORCE ONE (which is saying a lot), but at least Wolfgang Petersen's picture moved. Donner's summer entry is moribund. It spends well over two hours trying unsuccessfully to find a niche. The result is frustrating, irritating, and wearying. In the end, CONSPIRACY THEORY fails to work as an action film, a romance, or a mystery -- all of which it aspires to be.
It seems to me that the biggest problem with CONSPIRACY THEORY is that it can't decide whether to take the well-paved highway (throw Mel Gibson into the comfortable role of action hero with Julia Roberts as the love interest) or ramble along on some little-used back road (cast Gibson against type and throw in a couple of really nasty plot twists). This indecision causes the film to veer off course and run into a ditch. The plot ends up needlessly convoluted, the characters are hard to get a handle on, and the ending is dissatisfying. Here and there, certain elements hold great promise, but, for the most part, they remain undeveloped. And, on the one occasion when the film has an opportunity to do something truly daring, it wilts in the face of the challenge.
Gibson plays Jerry Fletcher, a slightly unstable Manhattan cab driver who suffers from paranoid delusions (many viewers will see shades of Gibson's LETHAL WEAPON character in Jerry). He believes almost every conspiracy theory concocted by even the least-reputable source, and publishes a small newsletter in which he prints his views. His personal life is a wasteland, and he is obsessed by one woman. Every night, he sits outside in his cab and watches Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts), an agent of the U.S. Justice Department, as she exercises on her tread mill. Jerry has had a serious crush on Alice ever since he saved her from being mugged.
Then, one day, Jerry is kidnapped. He is taken to a dark, dank room where his eyes are taped open and a bright light is directed at his face. He is physically and psychologically abused by a smooth, sinister "psychiatrist" named Jonas (Patrick Stewart), who wants some information. Apparently, one of Jerry's conspiracy theories has hit a little too close to the truth for someone's comfort. Soon, Jerry is on the run, with the FBI, CIA, and other arms of the government on his tail. The only one he can turn to is Alice, who is understandably skeptical... until she pays a visit to Jerry's apartment.
Mel Gibson appears confused about how to play Jerry -- is he a hero, an antihero, or something else entirely? Gibson settles for a drugged-out version of THE FUGITIVE's Dr. Richard Kimble. Jerry's increasingly bizarre behavior makes him more and more difficult to relate to, even if he is being played by one of the world's most popular movie stars. Meanwhile, Julia Roberts is as bland and ineffective as she was in THE PELICAN BRIEF. Clearly, thrillers do not use the actress, who was wonderful in this summer's MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING, to her best advantage. In the villain department, it's pleasant to see someone given a chance other than Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, James Woods, and the other usual suspects. Patrick Stewart is too good an actor to do anything poorly, and his slippery performance here lends CONSPIRACY THEORY a badly-needed injection of energy.
One of the most disappointing aspects of CONSPIRACY THEORY is its poor pace. With films like SUPERMAN, LETHAL WEAPON, and MAVERICK, Donner has fashioned a reputation as a director who values clearly- structured movies. CONSPIRACY THEORY, on the other hand, is confused and disjointed, and the resolution of the story is more than a little anticlimactic. Donner never really seems to have things under control. So, although there may be some good ideas in CONSPIRACY THEORY, they rarely surface.
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
- James Berardinelli
e-mail: [email protected]
ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
"A film is a petrified fountain of thought."
- Jean Cocteau
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