Something is rotten down on the farm, where FBI undercover agent Debra Winger discovers the man she loves (handsome, modest farmer and family man Tom Berenger) is actually part of an organized, nationwide white supremacist conspiracy intent on toppling the "Zionist occupied government and their n*gger police". It's all part of the latest topical thriller by old pro Costa-Gavras, who gives us a sometimes shallow but not entirely unbelievable reflection of the cancer lurking just below the spacious skies and amber waves of America's heartland. The script, by superstar hack Joe Eszterhas (plundering yet another fashionable current events headline), manipulates its audience with occasional brilliance, and yet the sheer emotional impact of such a hot-button topic is often enough to camouflage the film's many nagging deficiencies. Perhaps its weakest link is the leap of faith needed to accept the naiveté of Berenger, who after casually hiding his true character from a new girlfriend is suddenly trusting enough to invite her on 'hunting' trips, bank robberies, and KKK weekend retreats. Eszterhas plays all his cards too soon, going to great lengths to portray Berenger in three dimensions (not all of them warped), but then introducing most of his pals as garden variety, flag waving, right wing psychopaths. For all his repugnant race hatred Berenger is less a villain than a victim of his beliefs, and the white hats of Winger's FBI comrades are hardly spot free, leaving her stranded between her affection for a man she hates and her loyalty to an agency that uses her without conscience. The suspense is strongest when sharing Winger's moral revulsion and acute fear of exposure, and it's a measure of Costa-Gavras' skill that he manages to produce some edge-of-seat tension from an awkwardly structured and sometimes unbelievable screenplay.
