Leofwine_draca This thriller sees former spy Gene Hackman running around Paris, meeting various contacts and battling a rather nasty enemy in the form of a man with glasses who doesn't think twice about bumping off those who stand in his way. This has some fairly tense and exciting moments but it's let down by a plodding running time and, towards the end of the film, in the last half an hour, nothing really happens. The plot falls apart and the sense of pacing which filled the first half of the film evaporates, instead boredom sets in.Hackman is as good as he ever was, a real tough guy and charismatic too. Matt Dillon is well cast as his unlikely son who finds himself caught up in all sorts of espionage and intrigue. The rest of the people are minor characters who are quite forgettable, especially the villains who get far too little screen time and aren't really that threatening anyway. There are a couple of good car chases, explosions and some nice action bits but overall this film is a missed opportunity - for a good Paris-based thriller try either THE FRENCH CONNECTION II or RONIN, which do tend to make better use of scenery and help to emphasise Paris' claustrophobic architecture.

BigWhiskers I've read some other reviews and blogs about how bad Hackman was ,a forced portrayal and that Dillon was a one note wooden character. I disagree because the movie works on the level it was designed for by having the most unlikely people involved in international intrigue. Hackman plays Walter Lloyd a mild mannered who lives in Dallas with his wife and son Chris played by Dillon. They have a shaky relationship at best with Chris resenting his father somewhat as a bumbling old fool and Walter's wife Donna also having issues with him for being less of a romantic husband. She is going on a trip to France but he doesn't want to go so she goes alone. The movie takes a while to get going until she is kidnapped and both father and son have to go and save her. Chris is all smug about going to France since he speaks French and thinks he will be the man having to lead his bumbling father around by the hand. That is until his dad rattles of French like a pro and gets tough with people. He then reveals to Chris that a long time ago he used to work for the CIA as a spy during the cold war and that with a wife and new baby on the way -he had chosen to retire so he could be with them. He also tells Chris that his real name is Derrick Potter and that his name is really Duncan- Walter aka Duncan would have made a lot of enemies during his spy days and he knew he had to keep his family safe hence why they were put into a type of witness protection program.The movie then takes off with Walter and Chris on the run from other factions who want both of them dead and a major double cross by one of the agents. The only thing I can see that keeps this movie from being better is what is changed from the book- most notable that in the book Walter gets tough on Chris and slaps him for almost getting them killed and the assassin Carla is actually shot and killed later on after tricking Chris into exposing his father to another assassin.Also in the book the whole reason for the kidnapping of Walters wife is told in flashback - how they had caught 6 out of 7 German spies. The 7th spys family is murdered and its described in detail- the killer is also described so we know it's not Walter. In the movie ,Walter simply jokes with Chris about almost getting them killed due to Chris's infatuation with the sexy assassin Carla and Carla is not killed ,She ends up getting slugged by Chris and sent flying across some cafe tables after she holds him at gunpoint revealing to Chris that she is one of the assassins sent to kill Chris and his father. She is not seen again after that scene. They do mention the circumstances around the 7th spy who got away but the murders are only briefly touched on by the 7th spy when he finally meets up with Walter ,they are not shown. The ending in the book is different too with Walter staying behind in Europe while Chris and his mother go home realizing how much Walter has changed and that he was not the father/husband they both thought they knew,in the movie Chris ,Walter and Donna end up hugging each other in a field someplace in East Germany after they save her from the double agent and the cold war spy who thought Walter had killed his family. Overall though , 8/10 .a bit uneven but entertaining with both Dillon and Hackman giving decent performances considering the characters are a bit underwritten.

gcd70 "Target", from writers Howard Berk and Don Petersen, is an intelligent spy thriller that conjures up memories of the best war time efforts, yet never quite gets into enthralling or gripping gears, suffering as it does from a rather obvious conclusion.Gene Hackman is one of my favourite screen personas, and even though he is not at his best here, he is still good. Matt Dillon's turn is one of his best, Josef Sommer reprises a familiar role while a promising Gayle Hunnicut doesn't get to do enough.Director Arthur Penn is unable to maximise the potential of this clever premise. Though in some scenes he does well, at times surprising and even thrilling us, "Target" simply lacks a touch of class. Perhaps in other hands (Lumet or Pollack) this could have been something.Wednesday, October 22, 1997 - Video

Jack Reich OK; it IS a bit trite, but still an edge-of-the-seater nonetheless. Surprises galore to keep your imagination occupied, though thriller buffs will predict most of them. I found that part of the fun: keeping score of how many "surprises" i anticipated. Still, the denouement packs punch and satisfies. Great performances by most of the cast, esp. Hackman, who always has that knack of being 'perfect' for the part, doesn't he? and Damon, very apt in this early role. The art direction is superb, the location shooting very convincing. If you like thrillers/whoodunits you WILL be entertained. I gave it only a 7 because reading Sartre is probably a better use of two hours....