Suzie
I looked at the score of this film before watching it. 6.7/10, I thought, can't disappoint me. I know what I'm getting and I know what I'm in for. If it were rated 10, I'd expect a disappointment. If it were rated 4, I'd steer clear. I thought 6.7 was a fair rating.It's not. The film is less about conspiracy and more of a combination of action, car chase, random fights, guns, NYC street hacks, etc. It wants it to be about the big bad government, especially security agencies, but doesn't go too far with it to not upset people.It's too theatrical for my liking. A government agency has Doctor Jonas, an evil scientist who interrogates Fletcher (Gibson). Fletcher escapes, so Doctor Jonas conducts the investigation in finding him. Then Doctor Jonas conducts the manhunt to get Gibson. What? Is he or isn't he a doctor? Aren't there other agents that are better at this? Isn't the doctor part of his name mean that he's hired to do medical stuff, not conduct manhunts? Oh, this is one of those agencies where only one guy is in charge, he does everything himself, and everyone else is his goon. He has no superiors, no directives, no one to report to.The big names ruin the picture. Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts and Patrick Stewart are too high profile for this picture. I'm just not buying Gibson as a cabbie, sorry. Their forced attraction feels forced. I don't see him being attracted to her at all.Ultimately, this film is not entertaining. The mystery isn't that much of a mystery because everything is solved through action, not through investigation. This is a film about conspiracies, but the cabbie solves things by blocking a bridge with his car and running or tying a hot dog stand to an undercover car so that it drags it across the street.Not entertaining, not enlightening, not anything.
OllieSuave-007
This is pretty intriguing thriller based on the secrets of government conspiracies. Cab driver Jerry Fletcher (Mel Gibson) spouts off plenty of conspiracy theories to his customers and, unfortunately for him, one of his theories proves right and he finds himself a target of evil government spies.The movie starts off a little slow but picks up speed when Fletcher is captured by CIA agents and is interrogated by the main villain, Dr. Jonas (Patrick Stewart), which leads to a game of cat and mouse as Fletcher dodges the bad guys left and right. Caught in the middle of all the chaos is Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts) of the U.S. District Attorney's Office, whom Fletcher has a crush on and ends up working with her to allude the spies and solve the mystery behind the conspiracy.The script is interesting and you will find some of the same plot elements of the The Bourne Identity in the movie. The acting was pretty good, as I thought Gibson and Roberts make a great team and had great on-screen chemistry, and I thought that Patrick Stewart made a formidable villain.Overall, a good government thriller that one will find engaging.Grade B+
FlashCallahan
Jerry Fletcher is a man in love with a woman he saved from muggers a while ago and now watches her from afar, like a pseudo guardian angel. She works for the government, but Fletcher is an outspoken critic of the government. He has conspiracy theories for everything, from aliens to political assassinations. One of his theories finds itself to be accurate. But which one? Some dangerous people want him dead, and the only person he trusts is the woman he loves....The thing with this film is that Gibson is doing his usual kooky schtick that we all know and love from other Donner movies and the action comedies that made him such a big hit in Hollywood after Mad Max. But, kooky and mental health problems really don't mix, so you find yourself never really warming to his character, because even though he says he isn't, Jerry is a potential threat to Alice, because the man is unpredictable, so the film is pretty unsure of what kind of genre it falls into.The thought of Gibson and Roberts starring in a film together must have sounded like a license to print money in 1997, but it's easy to see why it didn't hit big at the box office. If Donner had gone a little darker, and made it a full on thriller, it would've done much better, because it has dark elements, but Jerry is portrayed as a lovable dolt who's misunderstood.Roberts is okay as Alice, and really comes into her own during the final act. Stewart plays Basil Exposition here, used only to explain story arcs and plot points to us via Roberts, but he plays a good spook.But the Donner sheen is there, and any film featuring the Gibson and the director is worth watching, I just wished the studio had gone for the dark route, done a straight up thriller and got rid of the tagged on happy ending.
edwagreen
As much as I dislike Mel Gibson for the repeated bigoted remarks that he has made off the screen, I have to admit that he gave a riveting performance in this film.He portrays a cab driver who is constantly thinking up various conspiracies, and then becomes pursued when one of his conspiracy theories proves to be right.As an attorney,Julia Roberts, who lost her father in a mysterious shooting, becomes involved with Gibson.The film is a good one due to the plot twists and turns. You really don't know who is good and evil in it.Patrick Stewart portrays a man with many hats. You just don't know where he is at until the very end.Roberts comes slowly to believe in what Gibson is saying until it appears that he had killed her father.The ending may be disappointing to many, but was probably necessary due to the clandestine and safety measures for the Roberts part.
AD
