39 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
39 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
america has finally gotten what it's needed for years : a compassionate sincere president with impressive ethics and charisma .
|
|
regretfully it's only a movie .
|
|
president james marshall ( harrison ford ) is fed up with terrorist activities .
|
|
teaming up with the russian government , he orders a strike force capture of alexander radek , a reactionary general ready to re-unite the soviet union under his fascist reign .
|
|
during a celebration dinner , marshall announces to the world that he will send troops to fight oppression wherever it exists .
|
|
" it's your turn to be afraid , " he declares .
|
|
returning home on air force one , he gets the chance to demonstrate his words personally .
|
|
ultra-nationalist militants loyal to radek and lead by ivan korshunov ( gary oldman ) hijack the plane threatening to kill a hostage every half hour until the general is released .
|
|
marshall has a chance to escape in a jettisoned capsule ( which clinton says doesn't exist in real life ) but refuses , preferring to stay and fight .
|
|
director wolfgang peterson ( " das boot " , " in the line of fire " , " outbreak " takes the over-used " die hard " theme and gives us something new in a film that combines brilliant acting with hold-your-breath intensity .
|
|
if you can take your eyes off the screen , steal a look at the audience .
|
|
everyone is totally engrossed .
|
|
the two actors do what they do best and they are probably the best there are at it .
|
|
oldman has become typecast as a psychotic sadist and no wonder -- he does it so well .
|
|
when he engages the teenage first daughter in sensitive conversation about his family and the next minute threatens to blow a hole in her forehead , you know that he's over the edge in the manner that people with a cause can become .
|
|
you are convinced that young alice could end up terminated at any time .
|
|
when korshonov executes passengers , there is a frightening reality to it .
|
|
the guns in this film are deadly weapons , not cartoons .
|
|
harrison ford has done one role for several years .
|
|
his mastery of the man in the suit propelled into desperate action is in top form here .
|
|
marshall is a medal of honor recipient who now has a desk job .
|
|
realistically , he's a man afraid , but not afraid to act .
|
|
ford is one of the few actors that could make us believe that the president of the united states could be an action hero .
|
|
indiana jones in the oval office .
|
|
he and oldman's archetypes match up perfectly .
|
|
the other roles also go to accomplished actors .
|
|
glenn close as the determined but unsure vice-president is the picture of an executive forced into a position that she's not quite ready for .
|
|
dean stockwell as defense secretary eager for the authority ( " i'm in charge here ! " )
|
|
is her political nemesis and turns in a good alexander haig performance .
|
|
of course the politics are all wrong .
|
|
a cowboy president ( even down to his name ) with big guns shoots his way through problems .
|
|
much like the american collective memory of jfk's camelot , the image is wondrous if you don't look too deep .
|
|
the pulls on the patriotic heartstrings would be too much in any other film , but they work here .
|
|
no matter what political spin you put on the story , the movie is an outstanding one .
|
|
i left the theater feeling that there is hope for the country's future : not a common belief nowadays .
|
|
now if we only can get ford to run for president .
|
|
just because one actor didn't work out as chief executive doesn't mean that a different one couldn't .
|
|
( michael redman has lost count of how many years he's been writing this column -- 21 years . . . 22 years -- while watching the sunflowers outside his window swaying in the cool breezes . )
|