Such a frustrating disappointment

Strong and Moving!

ridiculous rating

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

I guess most of you missed the sex scene in the movie since no one has mentioned it. You know, the one on the patio. As Ellen straddles Lawrence, look real close and you'll see that she doesn't have any panties on. That's right. No panties on the lady. Then notice the surprised look on the face of Lawrence as they begin to have sex. A look of surprise and then a smile as he looks at her.Now, you decide whether the sex was real or they were acting. When I first saw this scene, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. No doubt in my mind as to what happened. Don't believe me? Rent the tape and grab your remote and hit the pause button as she settles down on top of him.

I won't bore you with the plot. Except to say it's not any more believable than the acting. Most of the cast seemed to be capable of acting but the juvenile script and direction make it a waste of time. This movie sucks on so many different levels it never had a chance. I was almost embarrassed to watch it. The way you would be embarrassed to see a friend make a fool of himself when he was drunk. Like seeing someone at a very low point in his or her life. After watching it I had to look up what Ebert said about it and marvel at the fact he liked it. Most movies these days are awful. I guess if you're movie reviewer you can't write bad reviews on everything. At the end I thought it might have a twist to save it somewhat. But it turned out the end was just as bad as the rest of it

The movie was decently laid out and plotted- Larry Fishburne was just too cool in the whole movie. It wasn't the best movie, but for some underhanded dirty dealing showing the training of the CIA in the best light of conspiracy theorists, it was pretty effective.Note that a *whole* lot of people reviewing the movie apparently were not paying attention during the climax... the rest contains spoilers that explain it...spoiler. spoiler. spoiler. spoiler.In the finale, the silly woman who had gone to get revenge shoots *with her eyes closed* and empties the gun she had taken, hitting *nothing*. Thus the outgunning that people talk about, or ellen barkin getting taken out with rounds to the belly are hogwash. In the tradition of Prizzi's Honor, Barkin and Fishburne stalk through this attempting to kill each other. Barkin takes Fishburne in the head, and he shoots her in the heart at the exact same time. Only when the shooting stops and the woman opens her eyes does she see them lying dead... her gun having hit *noone*.

Interesting, but oddly emotionless movie about corporate covert operatives. You can't quite get a handle on the characters, and the dialog is strangely void of real, personal interaction. At times, it's almost like listening to robots talk. The only real emoting is done by Ellen Barkin. It's hard to get a handle on her character; one minute she's coldly sneering at somebody, the next she's got neediness radiating from her eyes.Frank Langella plays the only seemingly decent human being in the whole bunch, even though he runs a covert company, which works at corporate espionage; bringing to bear any disgusting technique which will benefit his client's bottom line. Laurence Fishburne is very good in this as a coldly calculating operative. He oozes cool and menace as a ruthless agent, who will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Very interesting movie to watch, but these are people I hope to never come across.