TRUE LIES
A film review by Craig Good
Copyright 1994 Craig Good
TRUE LIES owes as much, if not more, to James Bond films as it does to pure action films such as COMMANDO. Director James Cameron and star Arnold Schwarzennegger are each confident and at the top of their form as they over-deliver the goods in a deft cross between a 007 adventure and an action comedy. Its not a stretch to say that they have created a Bond for the 90's, and Pierce Brosnan better pray that this movie is well forgotten before his attempt at Bond hits the screen.
Speaking of praying, Tom Arnold should be spending a good part of each day genuflecting in the direction of James Cameron's house, thanking him for saving his career. One of the most pleasant surprises in a movie full of them was that Arnold (Tom, that is) was able to play an engaging character who you really wanted to like for his wit and his puppy-dog loyalty almost enough to make you overlook his neanderthal attitudes toward women. I actually enjoyed the time he spent on the screen.
TRUE LIES has at its heart a terrific premise. What if James Bond had a house in the suburbs, and his wife and daughter had no idea what he really did for a living? Suppose further that he were to learn that his wife was being wooed by a spook wannabe who hoped to score by providing the sense of adventure missing from her dull life? Its hard to save the world and still be home in time for dinner.
Seated behind us at the sneak preview were a couple of guys who had this exchange during the credits:
"Do you think it was too violent?"
"Hey, man. This is a *love* story."
Facetious as it sounds, beneath all of the sound and fury, Cameron does manage to deliver a love story between Arnold (Schwarzennegger, that is) and Jamie Lee. At first infuriated by her affair, he becomes obsessed, then cruel, and then she puts him in his place. Meanwhile there is some great business between Arnold and the fake spy, Bill Paxton. Paxton is so deliciously slimy that you almost wish he had more screen time.
But screen time is not wasted in TRUE LIES. This is skilled, deft filmmaking. There aren't scenes that don't need to be there, and many scenes do double duty. Single-minded focus comes into play only in the well-crafted and thrilling action sequences. And there are plenty of them, ranging from the category of stunts I call "Things I've always wanted to do" to set pieces which escalate in unexpected directions in the "take it farther" school of comedy. During the climactic sequence at the end of the movie I started to wonder why my jaw was sore. Then I realized that I had been clenching my teeth for the past several minutes.
TRUE LIES is audacious, tight, and--most of all--great fun. Like any Cameron film, it is also big and loud, so treat yourself and catch it at the best theatre you can.
--Craig
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