I've seen this film once or twice before. First time, it was when it hit the home video market so I'd guess late 97. The second time was on TV several years after that.

Here I am watching it after a further decade or so...

I know the twist that is coming. Long before The Sixth Sense made final plot twists cool, this film borrowed from the best film of the previous year - The Usual Suspects - and had a final moment twist to improve itself. Had it waited a couple of years before trying this ruse, it might be better remembered.

It's an engaging courtroom drama with mystery thriller aspects. Good performances all round, with special exception of Richard Gere.

Gere comes in for a lot of bad press. His style of acting is classed as wooden. I disagree. He seems to me to have mastered th E art of acting like the everyman. And he acts like a man off the street. Which is his downfall... His mannerisms are slight, his demeanour is subtle, his outbursts contained.

Some actors can convey hours of anger with a twitch - think early De Niro. Some can explode and not overfill the screen - think late Pacino.

Gere is at one ned of the spectrum but should have been plying his trade at the other. From Pretty Woman to Shall We Dance, his acting could have been better than it was whilst not being poor such that those movies were failures.

In short, this is well worth a watch.


8/10