Conspiracy Theory
Jerry Fletcher (Mel Gibson) is a lonely New York City taxi driver who lives a very organised, but paranoid, existence. He spends his spare time pouring over newspapers in his high security apartment, looking for suspicious coincidences between the pages, and forming wild conspiracy theories based on them (which he recounts to his unwilling passengers the next day). He is also infatuated with Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts), a woman who works for the government, whose father has recently been killed under mysterious circumstances, and whom Jerry once saved the life of. One day, Jerry is kidnapped and interrogated by a mysterious man (a good Patrick Stewart). Jerry escapes, but soon realises that one of his conspiracy theories may have come true. But he has trouble convincing Alice of this, who has listened to Jerry's musings far too many times to believe any of them.
While his creative output over the years hasn't been specifically worth mentioning, Richard Donner is hardly a filmmaker deserving of much criticism; his movies supply solid, if forgettable, entertainment that is worth the price of admission. And yet, at the same time, it's fairly disappointing to watch him try, and fail, to replicate the artistic success of his 1978 hit 'Superman'. 'Conspiracy Theory' tries to coax Donner away from his traditional formula of flying bullets and jokes (seen badly, minus the jokes, in the 1995 dud 'Assassins'), and is ultimately a more highbrow outing for the director than you might expect. But intricate plotting aside, 'Theory' just doesn't know what to do with itself, and it only half accomplishes what it does know how to do.
Despite this all, the film does starts off on the right foot, with a first act that determinedly invites the audience into Jerry's specific, unreal world. At this time, one may think perhaps Donner teaming up again with 'Assassins' scribe Brian Helgeland wasn't a bad idea, as 'Theory' offers truly entertaining moments when it lets the audience see how Jerry's eccentric lifestyle brushes against the people of the city, and inhibits his own daily activities. It's not classic Donner, but it's pleasurable in an unchallenging way.
Easily identifiable as the moment where 'Theory' stops holding water is when the film tumbles into a cat-and-mouse thriller, which sees our misunderstood protagonist finding it increasingly hard to stay ahead of his pursuers, or keep an easy grip on his sanity. Jerry's journey into his past alone could have been enough to maintain audience interest, but Helgeland can't decide whether his film is more of a romance or a mystery, and he ends up writing in too much of both, including a slightly too happy denouement, and plot twists and turns that, rather than emerging smoothly as the film progresses, seem to be thrown in interstitially and without proper notice. Surprisingly (or not?), Donner is partly to blame as well, as the film sags badly in the mid-section, all too soon falling back on Helgeland's ineffective comic moments, moments that the film really did not need.
Thankfully, Richard Donner has star Mel Gibson (in their sixth collaboration) to fall back on. A veteran of Donner's overrated 'Lethal Weapon' franchise, Gibson doesn't fully succeed in keeping the oddities of the character from overwhelming his performance, but he manages to display Jerry's instability with little trouble. Gibson delivers solid work here, as does Julia Roberts, in perhaps her most intelligent role to date. I had a hard time swallowing the actress's lazy "smile"-acting in the annoying 'My Best Friend's Wedding' last June, but 'Theory' reveals once again her under-appreciated dramatic skills. Together, the two leads muster up an adequately engaging screen spark, and help make the film rousing where Donner and Helgeland couldn't have allowed it to. 'Theory' is another near miss for Donner, but it's worth cracking even so, all thanks to Gibson and Roberts.
~ 6/10 ~
Jerry Fletcher (Mel Gibson) is a lonely New York City taxi driver who lives a very organised, but paranoid, existence. He spends his spare time pouring over newspapers in his high security apartment, looking for suspicious coincidences between the pages, and forming wild conspiracy theories based on them (which he recounts to his unwilling passengers the next day). He is also infatuated with Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts), a woman who works for the government, whose father has recently been killed under mysterious circumstances, and whom Jerry once saved the life of. One day, Jerry is kidnapped and interrogated by a mysterious man (a good Patrick Stewart). Jerry escapes, but soon realises that one of his conspiracy theories may have come true. But he has trouble convincing Alice of this, who has listened to Jerry's musings far too many times to believe any of them.
While his creative output over the years hasn't been specifically worth mentioning, Richard Donner is hardly a filmmaker deserving of much criticism; his movies supply solid, if forgettable, entertainment that is worth the price of admission. And yet, at the same time, it's fairly disappointing to watch him try, and fail, to replicate the artistic success of his 1978 hit 'Superman'. 'Conspiracy Theory' tries to coax Donner away from his traditional formula of flying bullets and jokes (seen badly, minus the jokes, in the 1995 dud 'Assassins'), and is ultimately a more highbrow outing for the director than you might expect. But intricate plotting aside, 'Theory' just doesn't know what to do with itself, and it only half accomplishes what it does know how to do.
Despite this all, the film does starts off on the right foot, with a first act that determinedly invites the audience into Jerry's specific, unreal world. At this time, one may think perhaps Donner teaming up again with 'Assassins' scribe Brian Helgeland wasn't a bad idea, as 'Theory' offers truly entertaining moments when it lets the audience see how Jerry's eccentric lifestyle brushes against the people of the city, and inhibits his own daily activities. It's not classic Donner, but it's pleasurable in an unchallenging way.
Easily identifiable as the moment where 'Theory' stops holding water is when the film tumbles into a cat-and-mouse thriller, which sees our misunderstood protagonist finding it increasingly hard to stay ahead of his pursuers, or keep an easy grip on his sanity. Jerry's journey into his past alone could have been enough to maintain audience interest, but Helgeland can't decide whether his film is more of a romance or a mystery, and he ends up writing in too much of both, including a slightly too happy denouement, and plot twists and turns that, rather than emerging smoothly as the film progresses, seem to be thrown in interstitially and without proper notice. Surprisingly (or not?), Donner is partly to blame as well, as the film sags badly in the mid-section, all too soon falling back on Helgeland's ineffective comic moments, moments that the film really did not need.
Thankfully, Richard Donner has star Mel Gibson (in their sixth collaboration) to fall back on. A veteran of Donner's overrated 'Lethal Weapon' franchise, Gibson doesn't fully succeed in keeping the oddities of the character from overwhelming his performance, but he manages to display Jerry's instability with little trouble. Gibson delivers solid work here, as does Julia Roberts, in perhaps her most intelligent role to date. I had a hard time swallowing the actress's lazy "smile"-acting in the annoying 'My Best Friend's Wedding' last June, but 'Theory' reveals once again her under-appreciated dramatic skills. Together, the two leads muster up an adequately engaging screen spark, and help make the film rousing where Donner and Helgeland couldn't have allowed it to. 'Theory' is another near miss for Donner, but it's worth cracking even so, all thanks to Gibson and Roberts.
~ 6/10 ~