New Hollywood conspiracy film rehashes old plots

By Parvathi Nayar Narayan

JAKARTA (JP): Watching Shadow Conspiracy, you can practically see a pre-production team at work with a checklist. The list, to ensure the film contains every conventional ingredient from every conspiracy thriller, includes a young, incorruptible, personable protagonist; a powerful, charismatic mentor; a too-honest President with problems; a hawk-eyed, ruthless and preferably nameless assassin; and an ever-vigilant scoop-hungry news hound who also doubles as a love interest.

From these predictable ingredients emerges a predictable conspiracy tale. As one of the President's most trusted advisors, Bobby Bishop (Charlie Sheen) is someone who has made it in Washington DC -- helicopters swoop down to rush him from a basketball game to the White House for some high-level politicking.

The President (Sam Waterston) has threatened to make a public speech about drastic reform measures, which his political advisors feel are badly timed. With guaranteed access to the President's ear, Bishop is asked to make the President see sense when everyone else has failed. Naturally Bishop delivers, to the applause of mentor Jake Conrad, the Chief of Staff played effortlessly by Donald Sutherland, and to the evident disapproval of the Vice-President (Ben Gazzara).

Pretty much a day of "business as usual". This changes when a man dies in Bishop's arms, whispering incomplete clues about shadowy conspiracies. The man was Yuri Pochenko (Theodore Bikel), head of an investigative think tank and a conspiracy buff.

Dying men's words are among the oldest and creakiest plot devices in the book. No one, not even Charlie Sheen, can fail to recognize it as a message to flee the scene. The message is reinforced by the assassin's conveniently off-target bullets, and the hero takes off. Hot on his heels, with white raincoat and tough expression firmly in place, is the Assassin or the Agent (Stephen Lang).

Apart from being politically savvy, Bishop is also savvy about the codes of conduct for the 'hunted' in the assassin's game. He cannot, therefore, do anything as simple as turn himself over to, say, the FBI. Or even chat with the President, whose ear he was supposed to have had, but like Van Gogh's would now appear to be missing. Instead he runs to former girlfriend, Amanda Givens (Linda Hamilton), who just happens to be a reporter who specializes in Washington politics.

She too seems to know the rules of the plot. Carefully avoiding the dead bodies scattered generously around, she dashes madly about the city with Bishop, assisting him in his bid to uncover and foil the "conspiracy". The pair are tracked non-stop by the Agent and his masters. The baddies are assisted by the most technically-advanced and up-to-date surveillance equipment, from voice-pattern-recognition software programs to satellites. Not to worry though -- everyone, including software programs, know their lines, and our protagonists stay lucky.

The reason for all this planned murder and mayhem is the President, whom some see as too liberal. He wants to do the right thing by the people, which is not necessarily the right thing according to the politicians. The movie offers a brief glimpse into the importance of image and the behind-the-scenes maneuvering which precedes public presentation of policies. Some of this is topical because of the upcoming U.S. Presidential elections, which are currently taking up so much media time and attention.

Also interesting is the claim of the screen writers, Adi Hasak and Ric Gibbs, that their story's protagonist was partly inspired George Stephanopoulos, President Clinton's youthful senior advisor. "Here's a guy who listens to R.E.M., who lives like a college co-ed... (But) he's also a guy who flies in a helicopter and who has the ear of the most powerful man in the world," Hasak says. The comparisons with Bishop are obvious.

In the hands of experienced action director George P. Cosmatos (Rambo, Tombstone), the pace is swift, which does make the film watchable. One doesn't drop off to sleep but neither does one wait in breathless anticipation for the story to unfold. Shadow Conspiracy mainly suffers from moldy and overused material. Viewers half expect to be informed that this is one gigantic spoof and for the movie to descend into slapstick.

Charlie Sheen tries hard to give the movie an edge but the memory of his roles in the military send-up Hot Shots intrudes, and the aura of a farce persists. The best element of the film is easily Donald Sutherland, under-utilized yet again. His role is no doubt important but does not even begin to tap his acting potential.

You are forgiven if your initial reaction is: Oh no, not another film about a plot to assassinate/overthrow the U.S. President. From Seven Days in May to Day of the Jackal to J.F.K. to In the Line of Fire, such murderous plots have been favorite subjects with movie directors. Films like Shadow Conspiracy indicate that thrillers dealing with assassinations, corruption and treachery in the highest places will be chasing beleaguered Presidents for a long time to come.