BBB
(out of 5)
Tony Scott once again overdoes it with the flashy editing and melodramatic camera work in this rather hollow thriller, making his best effort to disguise a simple plot and shallow characters with high style and doing a very poor job of it. What there is to enjoy is actually not too bad an experience, a diverting plot about a successful lawyer (Will Smith) whose life is practically ruined when an old friend (Jason Lee) drops an incriminating video disc in his shopping bag that shows a conservative senator (Jon Voight) murdering another politician (Jason Robards). From there, Smith’s life is observed down to the minutest detail by state-of-the-art tracking devices that threaten to become a social norm if Voight’s character gets his way with a new anti-privacy bill. Smith teams up with an ex-FBI bug expert (Gene Hackman, doing a wry continuation of his character from The Conversation) to turn the tables and do unto his aggressors what they have done unto him. The screenplay’s set-up really lets you get into the story, but the end unravels far too quickly and would have done better to climax with a character’s intellectual sleight-of-hand rather than a loud gun battle. The ensemble cast also features an outstanding Regina King, Lisa Bonet, Jack Black and an unbilled Seth Green.
USA, 1998
Directed by Tony Scott
Screenplay by David Marconi
Cinematography by Daniel Mindel
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
Music by Harry Gregson-Williams, Trevor Rabin
Production Design by Benjamin Fernandez
Costume Design by Marlene Stewart
Film Editing by Chris Lebenzon
Cast Tags: Adam Karkowsky, Albert Wong, Alexandra Balahoutis, Allison Sie, Angelica Pamintuan,Anna Gunn, Arnie Alpert, Arthur J. Nascarella, Barry Pepper, Beatriz Mayoral, Bobby Boriello,Bodhi Elfman, Brenna McDonough, Callison Slater, Carl Mergenthaler, Carlos Gómez, Charlie Curtis, Chris Holt, Christopher Lawrence, Colin Brodie, Dan Butler, Daniel Cano, David Han, Dennis Sean Fahey, Donna W. Scott, Doug Roberts, Elizabeth Berman, Eric Keung, Eric Olson, Frank Medrano, Gabriel Byrne, Gene Hackman, Grant Heslov,Greg Collins, Henry Sandler, Ian Hart, Ivana Milicevic, Jack Black, Jackilyn Ward, Jacob Chambers, Jake Busey, James Le Gros, Jamie Kennedy, Jascha Washington, Jason Lee, Jason Robards, Jason Welch, John Allendorfer, John Capodice, John Cenatiempo, John Haynes Walker, Jon Voight, Joseph Patrick Kelly, Joshua Ward, Joy Ehrlich, Joyce Flick Wendl, Kasey Lynn Quinn, Larry King, Laura Cayouette, Laura E. Wood, Lennox Brown, Lillie Shaw Hamer, Lillo Brancato, Lisa Bonet, Loren Dean, Mandy Kriss, Martin Bosworth, Mattias Kraemer, Michael Andolini, Michael James Walker, Nancy Yee, Noel Werking, Patsy Grady Abrams, Penny Griego,Pete Sutton, Raichle Watt, Rebeca Silva, Regina King, Rhonda Overby, Robert Gersicoff, Robert O’Rourke, Robyn Killian, Sam De Crispino, Scott Caan, Seth Green, Steve Uhrig, Stuart Wilson, T.R. Richards, Thomas Troy, Tom Quinn, Troy A. Cephers, Vene L. Arcoraci, Vic Manni,Warren Olney, Wayne A. Larrivey, Will Smith
