TRUE LIES
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1994 Scott Renshaw
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Art Malik. Screenplay/Director: James Cameron.
Was this the same James Cameron? I thought to myself. The same James Cameron who gave us ALIENS, THE ABYSS and the TERMINATOR films? It was not for want of action that I questioned the lineage of TRUE LIES; indeed, Cameron continues to define the state of the art in the genre. But was this the same man who created some of the strongest female characters in recent memory, producing such a mean-spirited and misogynist throwback to the glory days of James Bond? Although parts of TRUE LIES work extremely well, its long detour into an unnecessary and unpleasant sub-plot left me with a very bad taste in my mouth.
TRUE LIES stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a mild- mannered computer salesman--at least that's what his wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) thinks. In fact, Harry is a government agent with the anti-terrorist Omega Sector, and has been for all fifteen years of their marriage. While in the middle of an investigation, Harry begins to think that Helen is looking for excitement in an affair with a slimy car salesman (Bill Paxton), and sets out to find out for sure. But bad guys aren't considerate of marital strife, and one particular terrorist (Art Malik) threatens to place an even darker cloud--mushroom-shaped-- over the Taskers.
I compared TRUE LIES to the James Bond films, and those comparisons are both for good and bad. The opening sequence features Harry infiltrating a Swiss mansion to obtain computer files, then dazzling beautiful art dealer Tia Carrere with his tango skills. When he is discovered, he flees and ends up pursued by gunmen on skis, a device used at least twice in the Bond series. Not that it's a problem; the scene is sharply executed, and complemented by the surprisingly entertaining supporting work of Tom Arnold as Harry's partner Gib. However, it holds out promise for a witty film based on action set pieces, and that's not exactly what develops.
Instead, TRUE LIES takes a sharp left turn into farce, and for nearly half an hour becomes an entirely different film. TRUE LIES is loosely based on the French farce LA TOTALE, but Schwarzenegger is extremely ill-suited for what this sub-plot asks him to do. When Harry suspects his wife of infidelity, he uses all of the technology at his disposal to find out the truth, and proceeds to misunderstand phone conversations and catch Helen in awkward but explainable positions. For all its flash and star power, this segment of TRUE LIES plays like little more than a $100 million episode of "Three's Company." But it's not just that it is contrived and interrupts the flow of the film. It also features Harry treating his wife with an astonishing level of mental cruelty, and it's all played for laughs. With another, more plain-looking actor, this treatment might have come off as more light-hearted. Schwarzenegger, however, simply looks too angry, and scenes like Harry's interrogation of Helen which had most of the audience howling with delight had me literally cringing.
The spectacular final hour of TRUE LIES is almost enough to tip the balance back in its favor. The digital effects which enhance a harrier jet assault on a Miami highrise are spectacular, and the pyrotechnics are dynamic. But I could never lose myself in TRUE LIES because of the jarring shifts between broad comedy and big action. It may be a funnier, more technically proficient film than HUDSON HAWK, but it belongs in the same genre: the multi-million dollar caper. For many viewers, all that will matter is that Arnold fires of a couple hundred thousand rounds, a bridge blows up, and there are some solid laughs. For me, a film like TRUE LIES could only work with a lighter touch and considerably less of a nasty edge. With Cameron delivering so many of his jokes through clenched teeth, I found TRUE LIES depressing almost as often as I found it fun.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 exploding bridges: 5.
-- Scott Renshaw Stanford University Office of the General Counsel
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