DECEPTION
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Rating (Linear 0 to 10): 3.1
Date Released: 12/3/93 Running Length: 1:30 Rated: PG-13 (Mature themes, violence, language)
Starring: Andie MacDowell, Liam Neeson, Viggo Mortensen,
Jack Thompson
Director: Graeme Clifford
Producer: Lloyd Phillips
Screenplay: Robert Dillon and Michael Thomas
Music: John Barry
Released by Miramax Films
Anyone who doesn't understand the meaning of the phrase "the triumph of style over substance" should take a look at DECEPTION, although I shudder at the thought of labelling this a triumph of anything. It's a very empty tale of treachery and lies that rarely makes sense and engages the audience's interest even less frequently.
The story begins with Bessie Faro (Andie MacDowell) learning that her husband John (Viggo Mortensen) has been killed in a plane crash in Veracruz. Horrified and heartbroken, she flies to the funeral and discovers that her husband had amassed a huge fortune hidden away in numerous bank accounts around the world. Armed with a bunch of baseball cards that hold the key to gaining access to the accounts, Bessie personally makes stops at each bank to withdraw all the money. During the course of her travels, she encounters Dr. Fergus Lamb (Liam Neeson), whose "Feed the World" campaign activities somehow tied in with her late husband. Money missing from Berlin and Athens leads to the inevitable question: is John Faro really dead?
Miramax Films releases two sorts of movies: independent and/or foreign films which generally attract a select audience (many of these are quite good), and pictures that have sat undistributed on the shelf for a while (many of these are quite bad). DECEPTION is in the latter category, having been untouched since post-production was completed early this year. Its quality is consistent with the sort of movie released on an "off" weekend with little publicity in a small number of theaters. One wonders why Miramax bothered.
The plot is a real hack job. It rarely makes any sense, and when it does, we almost wish it didn't. The foundation of the story--that baseball cards hold the secrets to John's clandestine fortune--is so contrived and difficult to accept that it undermines the rest of DECEPTION--not that there's much else to undermine.
Lovers of the thriller/mystery genre waiting for sneaky plot twists will be disappointed. DECEPTION's storyline is straight as an arrow, with no deviations from the expected. Perhaps that's supposed to be the big surprise--that everything is played out predictably. Somehow, I doubt it.
There is an attempt at a love story between Fergus and Bessie, but it's easy to miss. Neither character is well-developed and their scenes together lack chemistry or heat. MacDowell and Neeson have created non- entities, but they can hardly be blamed. With a script as thin as this one, it's impossible to see either of them trying for more than a paycheck.
DECEPTION can boast one positive attribute: it has a number of pretty shots from different locales. Filmed on-location in Los Angeles, Veracruz, Berlin, Athens, and Cairo, the movie occasionally seems more like a travelogue than a thriller, although that's as much due to the lack of suspense as the pretty shots of the Egyptian pyramids.
Better films than this have been released direct-to-video. The only reason DECEPTION received a theatrical run is because of the relative high profile of its main performers. Never fear, however--it won't be around for long. Movie houses will quickly abandon it for the sequels to SISTER ACT and WAYNE'S WORLD. However, anyone unwittingly lured into this by the stylish print ad campaign promising an exciting, exotic thriller will quickly learn exactly what is meant by the title.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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