ABSOLUTE POWER
A film review by Martun C. Winkler
Copyright 1997 Martun C. Winkler
1/2 (out of ****)
Absolute Power, the new film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, attempts to be a thriller set in the world of hypocritical presidents and their murderous political staff. It is about as thrilling as a lecture on the mating habits of the South American grasshopper. One can only wonder how an utterly absurd script like the one written by William Goldman could have ever interested Eastwood. Not only is the plot unbelievable and contrived, but even the writing itself lacks any consistency or intelligence. Continually underestimating the audience, the film gives us information we already know or dont even need. Details essential to the story are so improbably convenient they are annoying (like why would two unprepared secret service men carry two night-vision goggles in their car?). Oddly enough, the initial setup for Absolute Power offers interesting possibilities. A masterful jewel-thief (played by Clint Eastwood) witnesses the murder of the wife of a powerful millionaire (played by E.G. Marshall). While robbing one of Marshalls mansions, he is forced to hide in the bedrooms vault. There, through a two-way mirror, he sees the wife and another man engage in passionate foreplay. Their game of love quickly turns into a violent struggle as the man starts beating the woman. In self defense, the woman grabs a letter-opener and stabs the man in the elbow. She raises her arm to stab again when she is fatally shot by two secret service men. The man? He is the president of the United States of America. Where does the film go wrong? It cannot be the acting. Clint Eastwood, Ed Harris and Gene Hackman as the president give type-cast, but decent performances. The cinematography is sufficient; wild and erratic during action sequences, dark and mysterious during psychologically suspenseful scenes, and calm and warm during dramatic dialogue. Even the music is not as bombastic as it usually tends to be in the thriller/suspense genre. The fault clearly lies in the screenplay, and the screenplay alone. While setting up a story about misuse of power, about the true possessors of that power, and about intrigue and double-crossing, it does not resolve it. Not one buildup of suspense is resolved by an exciting climax. Rather, the tense situations are left dangling at the end, giving the viewer an uneasy sense of incompleteness. An example of this is a very promising and tense buildup of a scene: in an attempt to arrest Clint Eastwood, the police have set up a trap at a small restaurant. Police officers are everywhere, incognito of course. At the same time, not one but two hit men are preparing to kill Clint Eastwood when he arrives. All three parties are unaware of each others presence. This scene is tremendously exciting and the audience is wondering how Clint Eastwood, who might suspect this is a trap, will get himself out of this difficult position. He will probably have a brilliant plan, involving ingenious preparations. However, when he arrives at the trap, both hit men miss (how convenient) and in the confusion Eastwood simply walks away. The buildup of this scene took about ten minutes. Ten minutes of close ups of the hit men loading their weapons intercut with the police preparing for the trap. The scene was resolved in less than 20 seconds... Parallel to the story line of catching the real killer is a cliche emotional tale about the estranged relationship between father Eastwood and his daughter. The daughter blames her father for never being there for her, because he was either in jail or robbing a house somewhere. Of course their relationship takes a turn for the better during the adventure and they end up a happy family. Again, it is commendable that Absolute Power tries to deviate from the mainstream suspense film by giving room for a dramatic subplot. However, trying is simply not enough! The second story line should be subtle, original and preferably unpredictable... everything this film is not. How could a screenplay like Absolute Power ever get the funding to be produced? How could Eastwood, who has successfully produced and directed many outstanding films such as the brilliant Unforgiven, ever believe in a project like this one? I am sad to say that my respect for the actor/director/producer has diminished substantially due to this film. Director Quentin Tarantino once said: "I can make a good movie out of any bad script." Director Clint Eastwood obviously cannot.
mwinkle@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
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