Wolff rating: FAIR
Plot summary: An undercover IRA killer seeks cover behind an innocent New York cop.
Biased, pithy comments: I didn't like this movie. I think I wanted to like it---it has the always excellent Harrison Ford and the pretty-boy Brad Pitt and it's a story that could have come out of a Clancy novel (except it didn't have enough right-wing propaganda). Unfortunately, after an explosive start it sags into a moody drama about this cop (who doesn't like guns, even when it ceases to make sense) and this killer (who, though a professional killer and wily enough to outwit the entire British army, decides to walk into an unknown situation with a murderous gun runner alone and *silohuetted* against the background!?!). Moodiness, it seems, is restricted to driving around from place to place in some beautiful helicopter shots while the main characters, we assume, brood and stare at the city going by. Meanwhile, the audience is wondering, ``Why do we care?'' or even, ``This is a movie with Harrison Ford in it. I'm not enjoying myself. This *must* mean the writing sucks.'' I'm not sure it sucked, but it was awfully rough going there for a while, and there are so many details that don't make sense (from the IRA deciding that if it can get some stinger missiles they'll somehow bring the British to the peace table to a scene in an abandoned farmhouse where a man holding a flashlight facing away from him somehow casts a shadow behind him to a seasoned New York cop going alone after a known murderer) that even if it made a thematic point you're lost in the bogus details. Oh, well.
Other Notes: Pitt and Ford both publicly said this movie was going to be disaster, but Pitt kowtowed to contract pressure and finished the job. It isn't as bad as he warned it might be, but it sure wasn't good.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Margaret Colin, Ruben Blades, Treat Williams.
Directed by: Alan J. Pakula