chains as those who wear them". autonomy. and encompass the global interests of the workers and oppressed. we aim to ensure the survival of the human race. YES, you have at least one chance in 300 of winning a fabulous prize, the equivalent of buying thousands of lottery tickets! This month's lucky winners sharing out the prizes are Terry Perkins (£50) with second prize going to Sally Morawetz and Eric Parsons third. people to fight their particular forms of oppression make an essential contribution to the struggle for a different society. They are organised around the principle "None so fit to break the The whole working class needs to fully commit itself to these struggles. Furthermore we fight for a strategic alliance between workers and these organisations which respects their legitimate By simultaenously building revolutionary organisations in each country and a revolutionary International we aim to guide By building a united struggle against exploitation and oppression Next month IT COULD BE YOU! To enter costs just £5 per month. Send us a cheque now and we will send you a handy Standing Order that takes the trouble out of entering. And then sit back and wait for your winnings to arrive! It really is as easy as that! Send your cheque (£5 per month) to: Soclalist Outlook Supporters Fund Absolute Power, the new film by Clint Easwood reviewed by Brian Gardner COINCIDENTALLY, Clint Eastwood's new film as producer, director and star is released here in the same week that has seen Paula Jones win the right for her claim of sexual harassment against Bill Clinton to be heard.
Absolute Power takes as its starting point the adultery of Alan Richmond (a fictional president of the United States played by Gene Hackmann) with the young wife of his octogenarian friend and financial backer, Walter Sullivan.
Eastwood plays Luther Whitney, decorated hero of the Korean war and veteran cat burglar, who while breaking into Sullivan's mansion, accidentally witnesses the President's seduction of Christy Sullivan, from behind a two-way mirror. When the President's advances become too rough, Christy stabs him with a letter opener and in the resulting commotion, two secret service agents enter the room and shoot her dead.
Enter now, White House Chief of Staff - Gloria Russell - who tells the agents, Burton and Collin to sanitise the scene and make it appear that a thief has committed the murder. The three however bungle the cover-up and leave behind the bloody opener which Whitney now steals.
Whitney contacts his estranged daughter, Kate - now a successful state prosecutor - and intimates to her that something has happened which may necessitate his relocating on a permanent basis.
We sense that it is partly her indifference which helps him make up his mind to flee but just as he is about to do so, he witnesses a press conference given by the President in which the latter vows that he will do everything in his power to help bring his killers of the billionaire's wife to justice.
Whitney is disgusted by this and now sets out to trap the President and his accomplices.
If you think that so far the plot sounds pretty preposterous, you'd be right - and it doesn't become any more plausible.
Classic
The film is largely a vehicle for its star, with Whitney as yet another variation on a classic Eastwood type - the morally ambiguous outsider who is forced to make a choice between good and evil.
It's a character type with a long lineage - through Sergio Leone's and Eastwood's own Westerns and the Dirty Harry movies of the seventies.
Eastwood the performer doesn't need dialogue to act and sométimes a mere quizzical look or the raising of an eyebrow says something more eloquently than can a hundred words.
It seems however in this instance that Eastwood has paid less attention to the other performances and indeed, to the overall style of the piece.
Hackmann, whose own abilities are not inconsiderable, is allowed to sleepwalk through the entire film and most of the characters seem like insubstantial entities merely revolving around the star.
We sense that in reality Eastwood knows that the plot is ridiculous and so attempts to inject some satire into the process.
To some extent the bungling threesome of Russell and the two secret service agents (Judy Davis, Scott Glenn and Dennis Haysbert) play it for laughs but mostly the comedy is insipid and doesn't go far enough.
Another problem is that while we might think we have come to see a political thriller, there is no real political context. Its not simply a matter of knowing whether President Richmond is a Democrat or a Republican.
Without in fact injecting a large dose of satire, you simply can't get away with portraying one of the most powerful figures in the world and his Chief of Staff as weak cartoon vilaing. • You can send us letters or articles by e-mail: [email protected] • Look up our Web page. You can find us at: http://www.gn.apc.org/labournet/so
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