georgem@uunet.UU.NET (George Moore) (09/08/89)
THE PACKAGE
A film review by George Moore
Copyright 1989 George Moore
THE PACKAGE is one of the better political/spy/action movies I've seen in
a while. Starring an impressive list of big-name stars (Gene Hackman, Joanna
Cassidy, Tommy Lee Jones, John Heard) it manages to remain suspenseful
throughout most of the movie without being overly predictable. Some other
films of this genre tend to be easily figured out within the first half-hour of
the film.
Army Master Sgt. Gallagher (Gene Hackman) is called upon to transport a
"package" -- Tommy Lee Jones -- from Germany back to the US for court
martial. The Package escapes in JFK airport, which results in Hackman
uncovering an international plot to short-circuit world peace negotiations.
After enlisting the aid of his ex-wife, Lt. Colonel Gallagher (Joanna
Cassidy) and a Chicago police detective (played by the same actor who played
Lt. Buntz on "Hill Street Blues." Geez, he had the same suit, same
mannerisms, even some of the same lines. Talk about typecasting), they are hot
on the trail of Tommy Lee Jones.
The way in which The Evil Plot is presented is entirely believable. There
are quite probably some military types in both the US and Russian armies who
would attempt something of this sort. Even the spoken Russian is accurate,
something very few movies can lay claim to. Gene Hackman plays ... well, he
plays Gene Hackman ... which is quite all right, since most everyone expects a
certain set of actions which Hackman is famous for. The pacing is fine,
slowing down only a little when Joanna Cassidy is on screen. My major gripe is
that Joanna Cassidy is never quite believable as a full Lt. Colonel. It seems
someone would need a lot of iron will and determination to achieve that rank,
and Cassidy with her high heels and hysterical screaming doesn't pull it off.
This film is rated R, mainly for language and violence (although the body
count isn't high -- rating one pint o' blood on the Joe-Bob scale). I would
rate it a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale, mainly for lack of plot holes normally
found in these movies. Go see it.leeper@mtgzx.att.com (Mark R. Leeper) (09/25/89)
THE PACKAGE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1989 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Fast-paced if not entirely satisfying
political thriller has Gene Hackman on the run from the Army
and the police, trying to avert the sabotage of a nuclear
disarmament treaty. Very reminiscent of other thrillers,
especially SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, but with a few new wrinkles of
its own. Rating: low +2.
THE PACKAGE is a neat little political thriller with a complex but
still fairly coherent plot. The story is reminiscent of some of the better
political thrillers from the early 1960s though most of all, and perhaps too
closely, it parallels the plot of SEVEN DAYS IN MAY. THE PACKAGE is,
however, not as cerebral a thriller as is SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, having less
discussion of the political reasons for what is going on and substituting
instead action and car chases. That choice makes the film more entertaining
on one level but less involving on a deeper level. While in SEVEN DAYS IN
MAY we are led to conclude that the real enemy is an age, in THE PACKAGE
there is little doubt that the real enemy is a group of "bad guys" whose
motives are all too quickly glossed over. That is just not as satisfying.
[Minor spoilers follow.]
The story begins at a disarmament summit meeting in East Berlin at
which United States and Soviet diplomats agree to disarm and cooperate with
each other. However, a dissenting group of high-ranking United States and
Soviet military people decide they do not want to cooperate with each other,
so they team up to sink the treaty so they can go back to distrusting each
other. (Now that I think about it, that does seem a bit ironic.) Into this
situation is dropped Johnny Gallagher (played by Gene Hackman), Gallagher is
a career military man who becomes a cat's-paw for the conspirators. Also on
hand is Tommy Lee Jones as a brawling soldier whom Gallagher must "escort"
back to the United States and who clearly is not quite what he seems to be.
It is not long before Gallagher is on the run from the army, the police, and
the conspirators. He enlists the aid of his ex-wife Eileen Gallagher
(played by Johanna Cassidy), also a career army officer. It is extremely
refreshing, incidentally, to see an intelligent action character played by a
woman over 40.
As political thrillers go, THE PACKAGE has a complex plot involving a
wide spectrum of characters from the intelligence community to Communists to
neo-Nazis. While the ultimate goal of the conspirators is not hard to
guess, many of the details of their plot are unexpected enough to keep the
viewer off-balance and guessing. I give it a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
att!mtgzx!leeper
leeper@mtgzx.att.com