Conspiracy Theory . Newcity Chicago . 10-27-97

Conspiracy Theory

DIRECTED BY: Richard Donner

REVIEWED: 10-27-97

With Mel Gibson in the central role of Jerry Fletcher, a conspiracy- buff- stalker- patsy -punster given bad headaches by the day's news and memories of a dark past and obsessed with Justice Department attorney Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts), "Conspiracy Theory" is less serious drama than a remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" with Daffy Duck in the central role. Donner's New York is a delirium of intense sensation -- from the ready clichs of Soho's cobbled streets and the towers of sewer steam at each corner -- to memorable, if sometimes pat, visual strokes such as Times Square being a continual tectonic event, or having Jerry's front door line up perfectly with the World Trade Center in the near distance, where the kind of conspiracy he believes in resulted in a notable explosion a few years ago. Donner, whether bored with storytelling or growing in ambition, has followed up the ponderous, yet zestily shot "Assassins" with another great-looking movie, filled with gorgeous compositions and strikingly stylized lighting. There are moments, rain-drenched sick-soul-of-Europe art-movie moments, where "Conspiracy Theory" attains an almost Tarkovsky-like level of visual density. It's just not infused with any meaning. The result is less cynical than blissfully absurd, with the galloping incoherence driving out of mind the concern that much of the movie's exceptionally potent imagery, drawn from the culture's shared century of blood-drenched history and media overload, is being wrongfully invested in mega-budgeted pulp.135m.

--Ray Pride

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Other Films by Richard Donner
Assassins
Lethal Weapon 4

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