ABSOLUTE POWER
A Film Review by Brian Takeshita
Rating: **1/2 out of ****
In ABSOLUTE POWER, Clint Eastwood plays Luther Whitney, an expert cat burglar who breaks into a mansion, but is caught in the master bedroom when people show up unexpectedly. Hiding behind a two-way mirror, he witnesses an older man and a younger woman enter the room and begin to engage in romance, which soon turns rough. It quickly turns too rough and when the woman protests and struggles to get away, the man becomes violent, striking her and wrestling her to the ground. In the entanglement, the woman grabs a letter opener and attempts to stab the man. The man cries out for help, and two other men burst in on the couple and shoot the woman dead. The gunmen are Secret Service agents; the other man is the President of the United States.
After the woman is shot, the President's chief of staff (Judy Davis) rushes in and immediately starts damage control. The woman's death must be made to look like she was shot by an intruder in her home. We quickly realize that it is not so much the death that must be covered up, but rather the circumstances surrounding the death. Shooting a person to defend the President is always justifiable, but doing so in the midst of an affair involving the President could cause a lot of problems. This is an interesting premise to say the least: The cover-up of a presidentially justifiable homicide as a means to a political end. It's focus on the President of the United States is equally intriguing. Movies in the past have given us scandals, conspiracies, and even murders close to the presidency, but rarely have they actually involved the President himself.
Unfortunately, the premise does not live up to its potential. Instead of showing us some of the myriad ways the unique and all-encompassing powers of the presidency could be used for self-serving goals, ABSOLUTE POWER quickly falls right into line with any number of thrillers. The two Secret Service agents find out that Luther, whom they chase from the mansion, has taken a key piece of evidence which could provide undeniable proof that President Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman) was involved in the woman's murder. The rest of the film concerns itself with the Secret Service's attempts to hunt Luther down, and does so in the same ways we've seen before.
Whereas the storyline is the movie's main liability, the cast is the movie's main asset: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, and Scott Glenn comprise this formidable lineup. However, although the others put in solid performances, in the end it's all Eastwood. He is convincing as the man who, through his chosen profession, has alienated his daughter to the point where she has taken the direct opposite path and become a prosecuting attorney. Luther may or may not like what he does for a living, but he definitely doesn't like what it has done for his relationship with his daughter, Kate (Laura Linney), and Eastwood does a great job at making this come through on screen. His convincing emotion is also displayed in a pivotal scene where Luther is watching President Richmond on television, embracing philanthropist Walter Sullivan (E.G. Marshall), Richmond's mentor and husband of the murdered woman. Luther talks to the TV screen: "You heartless whore. I'm not about to run from you." From almost any other actor, this would have been the biggest slice of cheese you'd ever laid eyes on, but because it's Clint Eastwood, you eat it up and ask for more.
Every time there's a big caper, Luther is brought in for questioning, but nothing sticks. This time, D.C. homicide detective Seth Frank (Ed Harris) finds Luther at a museum and questions Luther over lunch, resulting in a wonderful scene where Seth and Luther exchange opinions on who might have broken into the mansion the night Walter Sullivan's wife was murdered. Seth almost knows it was Luther, since he is one of only a handful of people capable of pulling off a job like that, and Luther knows Seth knows. The two of them engage in a discussion which subtlely makes each other aware of what they're thinking without saying it out loud. Particularly enjoyable is the way Luther indirectly pays compliments to himself. "Do you know the skill of breaking the security of the security company? I don't know how those guys do it," he says. Seth smiles and nods knowingly. In this scene, you realize you are watching two pros: Luther, so confident because he's been through this kind of thing so many times, and Eastwood, acting with the confidence provided by decades of experience. Both the actor and the character play it free and easy, and it's fun to watch.
Throughout most of the film, Eastwood's direction is evenhanded, and in some cases, masterful. For example, the way he uses visuals and sound to build tension while Luther is trying to disable the mansion's security system is very effective. However, there are also evident inconsistencies which detract from the movie as a whole. The music, while beautiful in some places (Eastwood actually composed much of it), degenerates into cheap horror movie-type synthesized monotones in others. While some of the characters are very authentic, others are right out of bad movies with near over-the-top lines. I have a feeling that with a better screenplay which could have closed some of the gaps in storyline, this film could have been much better. In the end, ABSOLUTE POWER is enjoyable, with Eastwood's scenes nearly making up for its flaws. It's too bad that the rest of the film doesn't keep up with Eastwood himself.
Review posted December 20, 1997
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