MAD
CITY
One man will make a mistake. The
other will make it a spectacle
An
interesting and entertaining slant on the power of the media, and in
particular television. Dustin Hoffman is Max Brackett, a TV reporter
who has fallen on tough times and is reduced to covering smalltown news
items, after an "incident" sees him lose his high-powered
network position in New York. As he is reporting on a little story
in a local museum, in comes Sam Baily (John Travolta), who is a former
security guard at the museum who has been laid off. Sam tries
to get the curator, Mrs Banks (Blythe Danner) to give him his job back,
but when she dismisses him, he pulls out a gun, accidentally shoots
someone and all hell breaks loose. Sam finds himself with a bundle
of hostages- Max is right in the middle of the biggest story of his
career, and he's determined to make the most of it, even though poor
Sam suddenly is in the middle of a hostage situation he never wanted,
nor dreamed of.
I really enjoyed this- it was a fairly
original story and the way it effectively showed the manipulation of
fact by TV was quite an eye-opener. Travolta is simply superb
as the slightly backward, but honest Baily, and Hoffman is slick and
competent as the silver-tongued Brackett. These two dominate the
entire film, but Alan Alda puts in a decent show as big-time network
anchor man, Kevin Hollander, who hates Max and now finds himself having
to sweeten him up.
The plot pans out fairly predictably,
with perhaps one good surprise or two up its sleeve, but the power here
is in the dialogue, and the way Baily is manipulated, first by one,
then another, as they laud him, then damn him according to how the latest
public opinion polls come out. The whole thing is held together
though by Hoffman and Travolta. It's one of those films where
you imagine any other actor in the role would not quite pull it off
as they do. I may even go so far as to say this is perhaps the
best performance I've seen from John Travolta. Great entertainment,
and a bit of a moral. Well worth a watch- recommended, even.
DJY
STORYLINE:
78%
ACTING: 92%
SPECIAL EFFECTS: n/a
CINEMATOGRAPHY: 82%
Overall
: 88%
BEST
QUOTE: Max Brackett: A man
has been shot; a line has been crossed.
Main
Cast List
John Travolta .... Sam Baily
Dustin Hoffman .... Max
Brackett
Mia Kirshner .... Laurie
Alan Alda .... Kevin Hollander
Robert Prosky .... Lou Potts
Blythe Danner .... Mrs.
Banks
William Atherton .... Dohlen
Ted Levine .... Lemke
Tammy Lauren .... Miss Rose
William O'Leary (I) ....
CTN Junior Executive
Raymond J. Barry .... Dobbins
Lucinda Jenney .... Jenny
Akosua Busia .... Diane
Ebbe Roe Smith .... Bartholomew
Bingwa .... Nat Jackson
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