The Big Brass Ring

Noteworthy for being based on a flawed but fascinating script by Orson Welles, this conspiracy thriller from the documentarist who gave us Hearts of Darkness is a bit of a mess. Hurt's the political candidate being funded by wife Richardson, investigated by crusading journo Jacob (greatly changed from her Kieslowski days), and generally hassled by Hawthorne, a figure from his past. The story's a little predictable, anyway, but the somewhat unenthusiastic performances and the pedestrian direction don't help. A curiosity for Welles nuts, but not a patch on even the least of the Master's films.