ROGER DONALDSON
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB. USA, 1987. Orion Pictures. Screen story and Screenplay by Robert Garland, based on the novel The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing. Cinematography by John Alcott. Produced by Robert Garland, Laura Ziskin. Music by Maurice Jarre. Production Design by J. Dennis Washington. Costume Design by Violet N. Cane, George L. Little. Film Editing by William Hoy, Neil Travis.
Gene Hackman plays a high-ranking Washington politician who covers up the accidental murder of his mistress (Sean Young) by spreading a story that it was committed by a long-sought undercover Russian agent. This would be the perfect cover except that navy officer Kevin Costner was also having an affair with the woman and witnessed the whole thing. Some colourful supporting characters (Will Patton‘s psycho-devoted gay secretary being of particular interest to those researching the scary minority presentations of the eighties) and tightscrew direction are followed by a fantastic twist in the end, though it’s still a regular thriller that will leave no huge impression on you five minutes after it’s over.
