Film

Shadow Conspiracy (1996)

Director: George P Cosmatos

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

An action movie for the wannabe liberal '90s, this tracks the political awakening of slick but decent presidential aide Bobby Bishop (Sheen). Right-wing traitors are at work in the White House - when Bobby starts to investigate, all hell breaks loose. His only allies are an ex-girlfriend (Hamilton) and the paternal Chief of Staff (Sutherland), but can they be trusted? Shadows are a bit of a theme here, and Washington, DC, provides plenty. Unfortunately, the movie has no such murky depths. Instead of an atmosphere of corruption, we have repeated shots of a cinema showing Touch of Evil. Similarly, there's no deep dialogue, just lots of deep faces: Sutherland, with his bulging, psychotically innocent eyes; Hamilton, with her rawhide skin and generous, manly mouth. Meatiest of all is Vidal, who pops up as a Southern politician. Sadly, Sheen doesn't even look profound. Like a zombie who's spent too much time in the gym, he blunders heavily from one stunt to the next, his pursed lips conveying nothing more than pique.

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