ABSOLUTE POWER 1997
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 1997 Timothy Voon
3 :-) :-) :-) for a mature, fatherly Clint
1 :-( for unnecessary violent sex
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Judy Davis, Scott Glenn, Dennis Haysbert, E.G. Marshall Director: Clint Eastwood Screenplay: William Goldman based on the novel by David Baldacci
"A two way mirror separates the master bedroom from a hidden vault housing the accumulated wealth of an aged billionaire. In the vault, on a chair, amidst bank notes worth one million, a jewel thief trapped watches in deathly silence, as the young wife toys with a powerful stranger on her master's bed. Laughter is mixed with the fragrance of alcohol as the two tease and fondle each other playfully. Heightened by the excitement of wine boiling blood, they toss and tantalise the other with careless whispers and kisses. He wants more. She plays hard to get. Furniture scatters like chips on a gaming table in this struggle for dominance in the roulette of lust. He likes it rough. She enjoys the tease of the waiting game. Enough! He strikes her. She hits back not so gently. Lust changes to anger as he tears the silk fabric draping her slim body. He mounts her from behind. She screams and squeezes him where it counts. It shocks him momentarily, but doesn't dissuade his intent in this contest for sexual supremacy. He pins her body to the ground with his own. With hands wrapped around her neck, he tightens with the excitement of feeling her breathless and writhing beneath him. Her hands grasps thin air, desperately she is losing this silent crying game. A cold blade comes to reach. She blindly stabs. He pulls away from her in pain, like a moth burnt by the flame. Mounting over her tormentor in triumph, she raises both hands upwards ready to plunge the blade into the heart of the beast. He cries for help. The bedroom door bursts open. Gunfire. The woman drops into a pool of her own blood. She has just lost the round in this 'Game for Absolute Power'."
'The Memoirs of a Jewel Thief' by TMT Voon
Talk about a star packed action thriller - Eastwood, Hackman, Harris and Scott. So were there enough pieces go around? Sure. Eastwood is by my accounts a fair director. So the distribution of power roles goes like this. Gene Hackman gets to release his 'seven year urges', in 'ten minute surges' (perhaps best left of screen); which is all too suddenly ended by the 'boom boom' of Scott Glenn's long schlick fiery 'stick'; resulting in much overreaction by the 'anaemic' Judy Davis; soon followed by an investigation headed by the 'Mr lonely hearts' Inspector E. Harris; who longingly eyes the 'lovely' Laura Linney before she is prematurely knocked of a sandy cliff, without hearing those unsaid words 'I love you'.
Clint Eastwood by far gets the best role - the 'fatherly', jewel thief who has a conscience to uphold and a daughter to behold. It is this particular character which stands above the rest. A man who does not walk away from an unpardonable crime or an angry daughter, even when his own life and fortune is at stake. If this movie is to be commended, it should be for Eastwood's strong character and direction, if not for the improbable plot and excessive sexual violence.
Timothy Voon e-mail: stirling@netlink.com.au
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