MOST WANTED
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 3.0 Alternative Scale: *1/2 out of ****
United States, 1997 U.S. Release Date: 10/10/97 (wide) Running Length: 1:37 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity, brief nudity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Keenan Ivory Wayans, Jon Voight, Jill Hennessy, Paul Sorvino, Robert Culp, Wolfgang Bodison, Eric Roberts Director: David Glenn Hogan Producer: Eric L. Gold Screenplay: Keenan Ivory Wayans Cinematography: Marc Reshovsky Music: Paul Buckmaster U.S. Distributor: New Line Cinema
Sad to say, MOST WANTED is yet another poorly-executed government conspiracy thriller, joining the lackluster ranks of SHADOW CONSPIRACY, MURDER AT 1600, and CONSPIRACY THEORY. MOST WANTED is intended as a vehicle for Keenan Ivory Wayans, action hero (as opposed to Keenan Ivory Wayans, talented comic). But, while Wayans the actor has an undeniable screen presence, Wayans the writer lets him down. Not only is the screenplay for MOST WANTED laughably absurd, but it contains line after line of the worst dialogue available in any film currently on a multiplex screen. Yet the film makers still expect us to take MOST WANTED seriously.
In general, action films are not known for their intelligence, but this one takes assumptions of the audience's stupidity a little too far. For a movie this dimwitted to succeed, it has to keep viewers under a constant barrage of pyrotechnics, gunfire, chases, and other assorted thrills. It can't allow them a moment's pause to actually think. Inexplicably, this is not first time director David Glenn Hogan's approach. So, although the action sequences are all well-choreographed, there are significant pauses between them. The film makers have foolishly inserted exposition into those dead zones, and the more we learn about the conspiracy underlying MOST WANTED, the more we realize it would be better left unexplained.
The movie opens with an offer. General Adam Woodward (Jon Voight), the tough-talking head of a government-sponsored, covert assassination group, visits Sgt. James Dunn (Wayans) in a military prison where he is serving a life term for killing a superior officer. Woodward gives Dunn a chance at freedom if he joins his team for "Operation Wrath" -- an officially-sanctioned hit of industrialist Donald Bickhart (Robert Culp), whose company specializes in the manufacture of biological weapons. Dunn, a sharpshooter, is to be placed on a rooftop in downtown L.A. when Bickhart arrives in the company of the First Lady for the dedication of a hospital wing he financed. It's supposed to be a clean, quick operation, but it doesn't go that way.
Someone fires before Dunn gets a shot off, and the First Lady is killed. Suddenly, Dunn is on the run, the fall guy for the assassination. Joined by Dr. Victoria Constantini (Jill Hennessy), an eyewitness whose videotape can prove his innocence, Dunn finds himself pursued by mobs eager for the $10 million reward posted for his arrest. Meanwhile, Woodward, who is heading the official investigation into the incident, wants Dunn dead before he can talk, and the deputy director of the CIA (Paul Sorvino) suspects a setup.
Where MOST WANTED gets into trouble is using a worn-out cliche (high-level government corruption) as the fulcrum of a totally implausible, unnecessarily convoluted story. The conspiracy here has many levels, and the more diligently you try to figure out exactly what's going on, the more apparent it becomes how ludicrous the entire scheme is. MOST WANTED features some adequate action sequences, but nothing that can suitably camouflage the weakness of the plot. Plus, all the action film standbys are on hand: a scene in an elevator shaft, a car fleeing from a fireball, and an LED countdown readout (Roger Ebert will be glad to know that this time it's green, not red).
Wayans does the best he can with the role, but he only has himself to blame for its limitations. Jon Voight, who lately seems to be choosing roles that allow him to chew the scenery (check out ANACONDA and U-TURN for other examples), goes at it full-throttle here, recalling images of James Woods and Donald Sutherland at their most over-the-top. Jill Hennessy (A SMILE LIKE YOURS) is bland but attractive as Dunn's hostage-turned-sidekick. And Paul Sorvino's quietly dignified performance is completely wasted. The supporting cast includes Robert Culp, Wolfgang Bodison as the real assassin, and Eric Roberts as Sorvino's assistant.
I'm getting bored of dumb action movies, and there have been far too many of them this year. When I go into a theater to see explosions and shootouts, I don't look for a script that resembles Shakespeare, but I expect it to make sense and keep my attention. MOST WANTED does neither. It's a poor excuse for entertainment, and, in the wake of THE GLIMMER MAN, this has me seriously wondering about Keenan Ivory Wayans' choice of motion picture material.
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@mail.cybernex.net
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