Conspiracy Theory (1997)

reviewed by
Mike Borzumate

A film review by Mike Borzumate , copyright 1997

For details of my reviewing style, please see the note at the end of the review.

                              CONSPIRACY THEORY

Rating: 6.0 and $5.50 Plot teaser: Jerry Fletcher (Mel Gibson) analyzes various government conspiracies.

    What a strange, strange movie.

This movie kept reminding me of the style of A Clockwork Orange, without the perversions.

The two principal actors, Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts, performed very well in their roles. The other players gave spotty portrayals, but none that were lacking enough to be considered outright bad.

My big gripe is with the soundtrack. Everytime I heard the music, I wondered how it was supposed to fit into the movie. It sounded like the soundtrack of a cartoon. Am I supposed to take Fletcher as a serious portrayal of a bizarre man? Or am I supposed to just dismiss him out-of-hand as an overacted stereotype of a fruitcake, as the music suggests? I tried to ignore the background music and concentrate on the story. It was a decidedly uphill battle.

And speaking of the story... I wouldn't say it was unbelievable, just that the choice of topics for the movie was too "quaint" and didn't flow in an even pattern. The plot tosses the audience hither and yon, and often causes a viewer to lose focus. But I'm bordering on spoilers, and I hate spoilers in reviews.

Go see it on a matinee. It's worth watching, even if it just dazes you with its oddity.

My #1 rule in reviewing is: NO SPOILERS. Instead of discussing the plot, I choose instead to discuss performances, believability, entertainment value, etc. If you want the plot, see the movie.

I give two ratings: An arbitrary scale of enjoyability (1 to 10) and a maximum price I would pay to see the movie.

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