ABSOLUTE POWER (director: Clint Eastwood; screenwriter: William Goldman; cinematography: Jack N. Green; cast: Clint Eastwood (Luther Whitney), Gene Hackman (President Richmond), Ed Harris (Seth Frank), Laura Linney (Luther's daughter), Judy Davis (Gloria), Scott Glenn (Secret Service Agent), Dennis Haysbert (Secret Service Agent), E.G. Marshall (Sullivan), Melora Hardin (Mrs. Sullivan), 1997)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
For three quarters of the film, an exciting, somewhat plausible thriller takes place, that is even occasionally intriguing. Then it comes apart and turns into routine Hollywood, cop-out stuff. As a result, this film wastes splendid acting jobs by Clint, Ed, and Scott.
Clint is Luther Whitney, a renowned thief, who finds his way into the hidden vault of the billionaire Sullivan's (Marshall) mansion and robs him of his jewels and cash. But complications arise while Luther hides in the vault, looking out from behind a one-way mirror, and Mrs. Sullivan (Melora) comes home inebriated and begins having some rough sex with Alan Richmond (Gene). He happens to be the President of the United States. Things get out of hand, and when the two secret service agents (Scott and Dennis) see that the President is about to get knifed to death, they shoot Mrs. Sullivan. Gloria Russell (Judy), the President's Chief of Staff, then starts the cover-up rolling. The result is that Luther has to go on the run.
What remains entertaining is that the bad-good guy, Luther-- being chased by the good-bad guy Alan-- while the good-good guy, the chief police investigator in the homicide and robbery, Seth Frank (Ed), tries to unravel the mysteries of the case. It is no mystery to the audience, because they saw exactly what happened. So what this film is all about is the amorality of the President and the absolute power he wields, and the cat-and-mouse games between the police and secret service, and Luther. There is also some romance going on, but of the blandest kind imaginable, between Clint's estranged daughter (Laura), whom he still cares a great deal about, and Seth Frank.
It is watchable hokum, with a hardly credible story, getting by solely on solid acting jobs from the leads. The script calls for no bold statements about the politics of the White House, which makes the film rather weak in scope and purpose. Yet, the film is bearable, fortunate to be in the hands of someone as deft as Clint; or else, with a lesser director, it could have certainly sunk to an abysmally lower level, though one wouldn't be far wrong thinking it has already sunk to that level.
REVIEWED ON 1/31/99 GRADE: C-
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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