Absolute Power (DVD)

Advantages: Eastwood, Harris and Hackman
Disadvantages: Could call the plot into question

...is great and his interplays with Ed Harris are cracking, it moves a good pace and does deliver the goods. I think I'm luck that I haven't read the book cos it seems that most who have didn't like the film. Absolute power - A must for Clint fans ... Read review

Advantages: strong tense storyline,good cast
Disadvantages: second half falls away badly,ending weak

Clint Eastwood returns as an actor and director on another thriller regarding shady going ons in the whitehouse.He plays retired jewel thief luther Whitney who plans one last heist at the home of a weathly businessman.Unknown to him the wife of the businessman also uses the home as a place to carry on a affair with the President himself played with steely resolve by Gene hackman.On a planned Luther is interupted by the unexpected arrival of the president ...
...then watches in horror as the president accidentally kills his mistress.The secret service rush onto the scene and then a big cover up begins to protect the president.On departing they realise someone else has observed what has happened by which time luther has already planned his exit.Thus begins a game of cat and mouse as the president plans to kill luther to protect his secret. Eastwood has brought togther a very strong cast of excellent actors.Gene ... Read review

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I made the mistake of watching this movie after I read the book. The movie left out key characters that really made an interesting plot. The movie just seemed so dry and choppy. Not only did they remove the intricacy of the story line, they totally changed who was killed. I may have liked the movie if I watched it before I read the book, but it just seemed really flat. I have never witnessed a total story rewrite as badly as this one. I was really ... Read review

Advantages: Great plot and performances
Disadvantages: Clint is slightly unbelievable

This film, amde in 1997, was a shock when i watched it. I had not previously heard of it and hence did not expect such strong perfomances. Clint Eastwood is a aged burglar who whilst robbing a shouse witnesses a murder. Gene Hackman co stars and when we relaise that the murderer is of some importance we find ourselves led though a maze of intirgue that has echoes of 'Revenge' also starring Gene Hackman. Clint delevers a strong performance as the ... Read review

Advantages: Average = the best i can say about it
Disadvantages: Poor performances, poor script, poor film.

Well, I'm not much of a Clint eastwood fan generally, and this film did absolutley nothing to convince me otherwise. In this case I feel it might not be his fault. On the whole, his acting was satisfactory, but the script could quite easily have sent me to sleep. The dialogue was uninteresting, the supporting cast were unexceptionally poor, the supposed tensiona and atmosphere was non-existent. I've read the book, and to be honest I'm not surprised ... Read review

Advantages: Brilliant acting, artistic photography, intelligent, funny.
Disadvantages: Not a constant writer.

...level of continuity between episodes. The second point, which I found slightly jarring, was that the episodes finish often when you think they should carry on, when there is still more story that needs telling. This does add to the artistry of the episodes, but can be a little frustrating at times. This is, however, a fairly minor point at just two of the six episodes on the DVD. The episodes are very deep, and contain far too many references for most people to be able to catch on their first viewing. If you want something to watch in the background, then this is not the DVD for you. It needs a surprising amount of concentration. On balance, I think this is a wonderful DVD. I have seen it four times since I bought it, and am always finding new things. It was an effort to think of negative aspects of Absolute Power to balance... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Interesting plot, good acting, makes you think
Disadvantages: No special features on DVD (but this was the German version...)

...I remember being disappointed with this film when it went on cinema release, I’m still not entirely sure why. Maybe I was expecting another gun-slinging performance by Clint Eastwood, but ‘Absolute Power’ is a very different proposition to Eastwood films such as ‘Hang ‘Em High’ and ‘Dirty Harry’. The pace is quite slow, although this does not necessarily have to be a bad thing, and the subject matter requires a lot more thought than the black and white, good versus bad plots of his earlier movies. The plot, which has been criticised in many quarters for stretching the bounds of audience belief, is basically as follows: Eastwood plays the role of Luther Whitney, a professional thief of the highest calibre who has apparently retired from top-level crime. He is seen attending an art class... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

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...Absolute Power is about the ruthlessness of people in power. The President believes that everything he does is beyond reproach, including an affair or two. That leads to murder and everyone around him is involved. There is only one witness, a thief named Luther Whitney. They are sure he'll talk, but when? The Secret Service is determined to keep him quiet, but catching a thief isn't always easy. When I first saw this movie I wasn't expecting anything great. I thought it was just going to be another "corruption-in-the White-house-plot" but it turned out to be rather different. The plot and subject matter are handled with care and maturity and the direction was dignifying to the source material. This was the second film I saw that Eastwood had directed (after Perfect World) and I was surprised to see that he is as good at directing... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful