Conspiracy Theory (1997)
A movie review by Michael J. Legeros
Copyright 1997 by Michael J. Legeros
(WB)
Directed by Richard Donner
Written by Brian Helgeland
Cast Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts, Patrick Stewart
MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for violence and profanity)
Running Time 125 minutes
Reviewed at General Cinemas at Pleasant Valley, Raleigh, NC
(08AUG97)
==
Phew, what a mess! For his fifth collaboration with director Rich- ard Donner (LETHAL WEAPON I-III, MAVERICK), Mel Gibson plays a motormouth, maybe mentally ill New York City cabbie, Jerry, whose wild conspiracy theories are all but ignored by Alice (Julia Roberts, acting all serious), the Justice Department employee that he has a crush on. She not interested, but another person is: a CIA psychiatrist (Patrick Stewart) who promptly kidnaps him. Is one of Jerry's conjectures correct? *Is* the metal strip in the new $100 bill being used to track your movements? Is Oliver Stone still alive, because he cut a deal with George Bush to spread *dis*information? Is this movie really about *any* of the crazed cabbie's theories? No, no, and no. As it turns out, there's some other nonsense going on here, involving and revolving around Jerry's background. (Hint: pay attention to an early scene where Jerry blacks out and flashes back, in quick succession, to images of an interrogation room, hypodermic needles, and Ms. Roberts herself.)
The *initial* premise is pretty good and is played, for a while, at a delightfully dizzying clip. Mel is wider-open that we've ever seen him and, if his character's relationship with Roberts' initially strains credibility, their combined star power is blissfully intoxicating. (The highest wattage of the summer, perhaps?) Even when the plot contrivances begin to intrude, the two remain a randy dandy screen pair. There's a great scene in Jerry's fortress, er, apartment, with Alice trying to act casual as her hyperactive host tries to remember the combination to a locked coffee bean container. (Which he stores in another locked con- tainer, his fridge.) Other hilarious moments, of which there are many, include a trio of memorable convention-breakers, where Alice ditches a tail, Jerry cold-cocks someone, and, later, eludes a foot pursuit, each in a uproariously unexpected fashion. (That's Donner's own LADYHAWKE playing in the theater, BTW.)
Let's see, other pleasures include... a brilliant title sequence, a jazzy score from Carter Burwell, and the worth-paying-to-see sight of Roberts pumping lead into one bad guy and slamming another's head into a wall. Oh, pretty woman! Getting to the latter, however, requires slogging through an increasingly overburdened and ultimately unappealing story. The last hour of CONSPIRACY THEORY devolves from tolerable to torturous to almost unwatchable. More stuff happens of the stupid shit variety than is worth mentioning here, except, perhaps, for a late sequence that has Alice locating Jerry in an abandoned wing of a mental hospital by hearing his voice carrying through the air ducts. And here I thought it was wabbit season. Good God, who rewrites these movies? And do they arrive in nondescript black vehicles?
Grade: C-
-- Mike Legeros - Movie Hell http://www.nonvirtual.com/hell
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