While no masterpiece of suspense, this is a well made, well produced and uniformly well acted thriller, despite its somewhat hard to believe plot.
Basically, it centers around a plan to assassinate the President of the United States, a relatively bland man whose stands on almost anything are never revealed until the very end of the movie. That was probably done deliberately, to keep from politicizing the movie at a time when the current guy in the White House is a man many people want to see impeached.
The twist in this particular case is that the assassination plan comes to light before any attempt on the President's life is made and the information indicates a mole in the Secret Service is going to help carry out the scheme.
From that point on, it becomes a kind of secret service procedural, as investigators in the service look for clues while trying to keep the president safe during his every day public appearances. Keifer Sutherland and Eva Longoria, two TV stars jumping to the big screen, are the leads here, but the film quickly shifts focus to veteran agent Michael Douglas, who turns into the film's central character and protagonist. Although depicted as a man who once took a bullet for Ronald Reagan, he turns out to be the prime suspect as the mole and his efforts to clear himself wind up taking over the screen for a time.
The film almost gets sidetracked here, but doesn't and it all leads up to a almost mandatory shoot out between the Secret Service agents and the assassins. No lone gunman here, its a deeper plot involving seemingly lots of people.
The film has lots of action from start to finish, and enough twists and turns from start to finish to pretty much make you forget that there are a few great big plot holes in this story, including the major one --what is the motivation for this assassination scheme.
The acting, as noted earlier, is pretty good, especially from Douglas and Sutherland. Whether either would qualify as a leading man, though, remains something of a problem for me. Also good is Kim Bassinger in the role of the First Lady, a woman with a secret. But she is not the top billed female, TV "Desperate Housewife" Eva Longoria is and some obviously don't think much of her performance.
My answer is, she probably accomplished her task in what is largely a thankless, underwritten role. Her character is largely immaterial to the overall story line. Although introduced as a rookie agent who may have a lot to learn, or maybe is capable of teaching her superiors a thing or two, nothing ever comes from that angle or any other in which she is involved. She is largely window dressing for this movie, obviously brought in because she is HOT right now.
For her, the best you can say is, she has appeared in a decent big screen film and did not embarrass herself, so it goes down as a plus on her resume. Which makes me think about one of the first times I ever saw Denise Richards on the big screen, playing an "Atomic scientist" in that James Bond film. The audience erupted in laughter and nobody ever took her seriously again.
Overall, this picture is a nice piece of work. Not Hitchcock or even John Frankenheimer by any means, but good enough movie making to make for an enjoyable film going experience.
Basically, it centers around a plan to assassinate the President of the United States, a relatively bland man whose stands on almost anything are never revealed until the very end of the movie. That was probably done deliberately, to keep from politicizing the movie at a time when the current guy in the White House is a man many people want to see impeached.
The twist in this particular case is that the assassination plan comes to light before any attempt on the President's life is made and the information indicates a mole in the Secret Service is going to help carry out the scheme.
From that point on, it becomes a kind of secret service procedural, as investigators in the service look for clues while trying to keep the president safe during his every day public appearances. Keifer Sutherland and Eva Longoria, two TV stars jumping to the big screen, are the leads here, but the film quickly shifts focus to veteran agent Michael Douglas, who turns into the film's central character and protagonist. Although depicted as a man who once took a bullet for Ronald Reagan, he turns out to be the prime suspect as the mole and his efforts to clear himself wind up taking over the screen for a time.
The film almost gets sidetracked here, but doesn't and it all leads up to a almost mandatory shoot out between the Secret Service agents and the assassins. No lone gunman here, its a deeper plot involving seemingly lots of people.
The film has lots of action from start to finish, and enough twists and turns from start to finish to pretty much make you forget that there are a few great big plot holes in this story, including the major one --what is the motivation for this assassination scheme.
The acting, as noted earlier, is pretty good, especially from Douglas and Sutherland. Whether either would qualify as a leading man, though, remains something of a problem for me. Also good is Kim Bassinger in the role of the First Lady, a woman with a secret. But she is not the top billed female, TV "Desperate Housewife" Eva Longoria is and some obviously don't think much of her performance.
My answer is, she probably accomplished her task in what is largely a thankless, underwritten role. Her character is largely immaterial to the overall story line. Although introduced as a rookie agent who may have a lot to learn, or maybe is capable of teaching her superiors a thing or two, nothing ever comes from that angle or any other in which she is involved. She is largely window dressing for this movie, obviously brought in because she is HOT right now.
For her, the best you can say is, she has appeared in a decent big screen film and did not embarrass herself, so it goes down as a plus on her resume. Which makes me think about one of the first times I ever saw Denise Richards on the big screen, playing an "Atomic scientist" in that James Bond film. The audience erupted in laughter and nobody ever took her seriously again.
Overall, this picture is a nice piece of work. Not Hitchcock or even John Frankenheimer by any means, but good enough movie making to make for an enjoyable film going experience.