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Absolute Power (1996)

Director: Clint Eastwood

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1 review

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

When ultra-secretive master burglar Luther Whitney (Eastwood) breaks into the mansion of a politically influential millionaire (Marshall), he's surprised by the arrival of the owner's wife and the discovery (he's hiding in a closet behind a two-way mirror) that she's carrying on with the US President (Hackman). Worse, after their drunken shenanigans turn nasty, Whitney witnesses both a murder and a cover-up. He's soon being chased by the cops (Harris) and the president's aides. Surely the best defence is attack. This light, part-comic Hitchcockian thriller, scripted by William Goldman from a novel by Daniel Baldacci, doesn't rank with Eastwood's best work as actor/director, but it's nevertheless solidly enjoyable. The script may lack even a shading of political analysis or comment, but it's hard to take against a contemporary Hollywood movie which forefronts a cowardly, cynical, philandering president.

Author: GA

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

Joe said...

Posted on Mar 22 2008 20:52 Astonished to learn from the end credits that this was directed by Clint Eastwood. I found it appalling - almost amusingly so - and assumed it was made-for-TV. Ludicrous holes in the plot, clumsy and cliched direction, three giants of acting rolling out their standard turns. Pure rubbish. I'm normally a fan of Eastwood both as actor and director, so I assumed this film must have been taken away from him, or something odd happened. Clint - surely not!?

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