Power and principles (Absolute Power (DVD))

Member Name: Belgian999

Product:	Absolute Power (DVD)
Date:	12/03/02 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting plot, good acting, makes you think

Disadvantages: No special features on the DVD (but it was the German edition...)

I remember being disappointed with this film when it went on cinema release, I’m still not entirely sure why. Maybe I was expecting another gun-slinging performance by Clint Eastwood, but ‘Absolute Power’ is a very different proposition to Eastwood films such as ‘Hang ‘Em High’ and ‘Dirty Harry’. The pace is quite slow, although this does not necessarily have to be a bad thing, and the subject matter requires a lot more thought than the black and white, good versus bad plots of his earlier movies.

The plot, which has been criticised in many quarters for stretching the bounds of audience belief, is basically as follows: Eastwood plays the role of Luther Whitney, a professional thief of the highest calibre who has apparently retired from top-level crime. He is seen attending an art class in a Washington museum, but the scene then changes to him breaking into a mansion somewhere in the countryside. All is going to plan when a light suddenly goes on and voices can be heard. Whitney retreats hurriedly into a cupboard and tries to remove all traces of his presence, but the mirrored door proves to be a one-way mirror only, giving him a perfect view of the events unfolding in the room.

A man and a woman enter the room, both drunk and intent on getting down to some foreplay on the sofa... but events take a nasty turn and the sex gradually becomes more and more violent. The woman is about to deliver a potentially fatal blow with a letter-opener when two armed men hear the shouts, burst in and shoot her dead. This is clearly more than a drunken lovers’ tiff, and it is equally clear that Whitney realises that the man he had seen beating up his lover was none other than the President of the United States of America.

The film then develops nicely along several lines – Whitney is the only witness to a crime that could bring down the government of the most powerful nation in the world, yet his cr
edibility is obviously tainted by the fact that he was involved in robbing the deceased of her jewellery and money at the time. It is also plain to see that the government has absolutely no interest in letting the facts of the case into the public domain, particularly as the woman’s husband, Walter Sullivan, was a prime cash donor for the presidential election and one of the main reasons for his assumption of power.

You are also introduced to Whitney’s estranged daughter Kate, played by Laura Linney – she knows all about her father’s past and wants nothing more to do with him, but when he manages to convince her of the truth of what he has seen, she proves willing to help him as she realises the mortal danger he is in. In a way, this film has a lot to do with principles – Kate overcomes her disgust at her father’s profession to help him survive, Whitney himself decides to flee the country to save his skin but cannot bring himself to admit defeat and run from the President, someone who makes his skin crawl and has committed the most vile abuse of his position.

Bill Burton (superbly played by Scott Glenn), a federal agent charged with protecting the President, has to battle with his conscience – he at first acquiesces to the Chief of Staff’s demands to cover the murder up, but is then torn apart by guilt at what has happened and duty to his President. Ed Harris also delivers the goods with an excellent portrayal of uncorrupted law enforcement in his role as Seth Frank, the detective charged with finding the murderer. He actually proves to be too thorough and too good at his job to buy the official line of events, and is drawn into closer contact with Whitney and Kate, contact which brings all three of them into great danger as the federal agents turn to illegal means to protect the ‘integrity’ of the Presidential office.

There are aspects of the plot that you could describe as unr
ealistic – the unquestioning acceptance of outlandish stories by various characters, and the huge amounts of deception perpetrated by those in power to protect themselves, to name but two. However, what I would say is that a film does not have to be 100% realistic to be enjoyable, gripping or a ‘good’ film. Look at ‘JFK’ – that purported to be an accurate representation of events, but really wasn’t the blockbuster that many people hoped it would be. And you might also consider the historical precedent for men such as President Richmond – world leaders, be they from America, Africa or Europe, be they presidents, comrades or kings, have a long and inauspicious record of cheating, violence, philandering and more.

Who is to say that a US President with a predilection for sleeping with his friends’ wives and violence in the bedroom is such an unlikely figure? You only have to look back to Clinton’s term in office to see that even great statesmen fall prey to the temptations of the flesh and then try to deny or cover up the unsavoury events in the face of mounting evidence. Fair enough, I think you can criticise ‘Absolute Power’ for being a bit on the slow side, but as far as the plot goes, all that is required is what one of my old English teachers referred to as one of the key aspects of great literature: The willing suspension of disbelief. This is entertainment, it does not purport to be a true story and should not be treated as such – however, the fact is that no-one knows if anything like this has happened and even if it had, no-one ever would as the government would probably stamp on the facts just like they tried to stamp on Luther Whitney. It’s a good film. Enjoy it.

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