BEFORE: July 4 is one of those holidays that for me is a "non-social" one - meaning that I would prefer not to leave the house. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day - these are very social days to spend with family and loved ones. But I'll be staying in on New Year's Day (too many crazy drunks), Independence Day (too many random fireworks), and Halloween (too many psycho-vandals). My Travolta-thon continues with something (hopefully) patriotic.
THE PLOT: When the daughter of a well-known and well-respected base commander is murdered, an undercover detective is summoned to look into the matter and finds a slew of cover-ups at West Point.
AFTER: Well, I wouldn't exactly call this patriotic, though it's got a military setting and takes place on an army base. So many soldiers with something to hide - including the title character, who is murdered and found tied to the ground, naked and violated. (Happy Fourth of July, everyone!)
Travolta plays Off. Paul Brenner, who has to team up with another investigator (who happens to be his ex-lover) to get to the bottom of this mysterious crime. The fact that the murder victim was herself a soldier, who worked for the Army's Psych-Ops, and was an expert in messing with the enemy's head, doesn't help. There are secrets wrapped in a cover-up, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in Army politics. As one character warns Brenner, there's the right way to investigate, the wrong way, and then there's the "Army way".
I remember that when this movie was promoted, the commercial played the scene with Travolta's character interviewing James Woods' character, who was in a cell - Brenner asks, "What's worse than rape?" and Woods' character says, "When you find that out, you'll have your answer..." Well, now I know what this movie thinks is "worse than rape", and I have to say, I think rape is actually worse. What's worse than rape? Nothing, really, especially the way it's portrayed in this film.
Still, it's a pretty tight thriller, with only a few minor goofs relating to Army regulations.
I suppose I could re-configure the Denir-O-Meter to a Travolt-O-Meter and rate these movies based on Travolta's level of performance, but I don't know, it seems like a lot of work. I'm not a huge fan, and I think his performances are pretty one-note, like, say, Schwarzenegger's. According to the internet, Michael Douglas and Bruce Willis were considered for the lead role in this film, and I think either of those actors might have made it work. There's nothing specific about Travolta that made him a shoo-in for this role. Besides, half the time he was using the same fake Southern accent he used in "Primary Colors", and the other half of the time he was talking through clenched teeth, seemingly so that his face wouldn't move, for some reason...
Also starring James Cromwell (last seen in "The Babe"), Timothy Hutton (last seen in "Ordinary People"), Madeline Stowe, James Woods (last seen in "The Way We Were"?), and Clarence Williams III. Oh, and "Hey, it's THAT guy" character actor Daniel Von Bargen (last seen in "The Postman") as the local police chief. He tends to play a lot of sheriffs ("O Brother Where Art Thou", "Super Troopers") and military men ("West Wing", "Malcolm in the Middle").
RATING: 6 out of 10 court-martials
No comments:
Post a Comment