Saturday, June 25, 2022

Power (1986)

IMDb plot summary: After a close friend drops out of politics, a political consultant helping to find a replacement finds a web of corruption and deceit as well.
Directed by David Himmelstein. Starring Richard Gere, Julie Christie, and Gene Hackman.

Power is a Sidney Lumet film starring Richard Gere as a political consultant working with multiple clients at varying levels. He has grown far beyond his former mentor's level of success by not insisting on having any moral conviction about his clients, and we see him struggling with whether that was the right choice or not. Lumet frequently explored the idea of corruption in power through his films, and this is another one along those lines. It is kind of a strange one to watch in 2022, as our main character ends up landing on the idea that non-polished, earnest candidates are the best hope for the country, so it definitely set off a couple triggers for me, as that was exactly what people praised about our last president and said we needed, and I'm... not convinced that was it. But the film definitely demonstrates how tempting it is to tamp down goals in an effort to be more palatable, and how that's hard to climb back out of once the damage is done. It's not one of Lumet's most compelling movies, but it's an interesting one to add to his many variations on a similar theme.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Power < Duel
Power > Who's That Knocking At My Door
Power > Firecreek
Power > Jimmy the Kid
Power > The Madness of King George
Power > Spider-Man: Homecoming
Power < Passing
Power > Safety Not Guaranteed
Power < Absolute Power
Power < Escape from New York
Power < The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
Power > Seasons of the Heart
Final spot: #1841 out of 3600, or 49%.

No comments: