Hitchcock called the plot device that kicks everything into gear the "MacGuffin."
Is there a less plausible, more tortured MacGuffin than the one used here? The Mafia creates an elaborate conspiracy to get lawyers to work for it.
Huh? Lawyers have been happy to work for mob money for a very long time. That's one reason there are so many lawyer jokes.
There are some notable moments in this otherwise mediocre thriller, though.
* The albino assassin. The Da Vinci Code also has an albino assassin. I think it's high time that the National Association for the Advancement of Albino Assassins protests Hollywood's blatant stereotyping.
* David Strathairn. Any movie with DS in it is worth watching. (Okay, excepting "Limbo.") He has two fine moments: a prisoner, he expresses a wish to see the sky; out of jail, he tells a woman how pretty her mouth looks; she says, "That's not even my best feature." I wish there had been a sequel built on those two stars' chemistry.
* It's amazing to confront how good looking Tom Cruise was when he was younger. He's still good looking, of course, but when this film was made he was at his peak.
It's fashionable to mock Cruise these days, but he deserves credit. He was almost eerie good looking when he was younger, and yet, unlike, say, a Matthew Mcconaughey or Brad Pitt who let their prettiness just sit up there on screen without doing much with it, Cruise had the drive of a Jimmy Cagney or other actors who had to get past their lack of prettiness. Cruise's drive is something to watch.
* Jeanne Tripplehorn is so pretty but so boring to watch. And she and Cruise have zero chemistry.
* There's an amazing scene where an older Gene Hackman attempts to seduce younger, prettier JT.
Hackman's so poignant in this part, and the part was so well written, that you wish that that storyline had had its own movie.
* And, the Elvis imitator/catfish truck driver was kind of interesting ...
And no movie with Ed Harris in it is a complete waste of time.
Is there a less plausible, more tortured MacGuffin than the one used here? The Mafia creates an elaborate conspiracy to get lawyers to work for it.
Huh? Lawyers have been happy to work for mob money for a very long time. That's one reason there are so many lawyer jokes.
There are some notable moments in this otherwise mediocre thriller, though.
* The albino assassin. The Da Vinci Code also has an albino assassin. I think it's high time that the National Association for the Advancement of Albino Assassins protests Hollywood's blatant stereotyping.
* David Strathairn. Any movie with DS in it is worth watching. (Okay, excepting "Limbo.") He has two fine moments: a prisoner, he expresses a wish to see the sky; out of jail, he tells a woman how pretty her mouth looks; she says, "That's not even my best feature." I wish there had been a sequel built on those two stars' chemistry.
* It's amazing to confront how good looking Tom Cruise was when he was younger. He's still good looking, of course, but when this film was made he was at his peak.
It's fashionable to mock Cruise these days, but he deserves credit. He was almost eerie good looking when he was younger, and yet, unlike, say, a Matthew Mcconaughey or Brad Pitt who let their prettiness just sit up there on screen without doing much with it, Cruise had the drive of a Jimmy Cagney or other actors who had to get past their lack of prettiness. Cruise's drive is something to watch.
* Jeanne Tripplehorn is so pretty but so boring to watch. And she and Cruise have zero chemistry.
* There's an amazing scene where an older Gene Hackman attempts to seduce younger, prettier JT.
Hackman's so poignant in this part, and the part was so well written, that you wish that that storyline had had its own movie.
* And, the Elvis imitator/catfish truck driver was kind of interesting ...
And no movie with Ed Harris in it is a complete waste of time.