 
              Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 10  Num. 84
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                     ("Quid coniuratio est?")
 
 
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CONSPIRACY THEORY
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Starring Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts
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Review by Conspiracy Nation
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This movie is very well  done.   This  may  be the first and even
perhaps only review of "Conspiracy Theory" which  gives  a  solid
"thumbs up."  You may be thinking, "Well of course...  Conspiracy
Nation  *would*  like  such  a  movie."  (Or you may be thinking,
"Ah-hah.  I'm just a  tad  more  intellectual  than you; I didn't
like it.") If so, understand that I watched  this  movie  with  a
critical  eye and if it were garbage I'd tell you so.  This film,
"Conspiracy Theory," is *not* garbage and I recommend it.

Early radar signals  picked  up  by  this underground news outlet
indicated that establishment-type film critics  were  all  voting
"no"  on this flick.  This raised the question, "Are they putting
the film down  because  it  really  *is*  bad?   Or  are they all
locking arms against the  subtext  of  this  movie,  afraid  that
potential  movie-goers might think something like, 'Maybe there's
something to this conspiracy stuff?'" Even Kenn Thomas, editor of
a fine magazine  which  covers  conspiracy  theories, derides the
movie.  My question to Kenn is, Did you arrive at  your  negative
judgement  *before*  or *after* you saw it?  Hillary Clinton also
reportedly turned thumbs down  on "Conspiracy Theory," her reason
being supposedly that co-star Julia Roberts smokes a cigarette in
it.

Some  overly  bitter   and   skeptical   conspiratologists   have
complained about Mel Gibson being "cute" in this movie; to them I
say,  How  else  do you draw crowds?  Should Harold Weisberg have
been the star?

If you see "Conspiracy Theory"  (and  I  urge you to do so, since
you cast a vote  for  it  if  you  do),  you  will  be  like  me:
wondering  how  on  earth one of the film critics could give this
movie only 2 stars out  of  a  possible  10.  This movie is *not*
about gimmicks, although yes there are  action  scenes  sprinkled
in.   Yet  to  hear some supposed film connoisseurs, the movie is
nothing but high-tech studio  special-effects.  It's not.  What's
*great* about "Conspiracy Theory" is that  the  viewer  initially
perceives  main  character  Jerry Fletcher as a lunatic; then, as
the story unfolds,  the  viewer  experiences  a dawning awareness
that Fletcher is not so totally crazy as it seemed.  This dawning
awareness is shared, in the film, by co-star  Julia  Roberts  who
also  metamorphises  from  knee-jerk  skeptic toward an increased
understanding.

A clue  to  what  the  story  involves  is  "MK-Ultra," the CIA's
mind-control   program   designed   to   produce   remote-control
assassins.  It doesn't really go into all  the  horrors  of  that
U.S.  government  project,  assuming  instead  that  most viewers
already know enough about it.  One other minor critique I have is
the film's obligatory love  story,  something it seems all movies
must have in order to  get  funding  these  days.   However  this
hardened  critic  even  found that aspect of the movie to be well
done, with  good  chemistry  between  Gibson  and  Roberts  and a
touching "Beauty and the Beast" motif.

This movie, "Conspiracy  Theory,"  is  also sprinkled with humor,
which balances perfectly with the underlying fear and  horror  of
what has gone on.  Star Mel Gibson is the sort who you don't know
when  he's  being  serious  or  otherwise.   On a recent "Tonight
Show," Gibson gave  the  impression  he doesn't generally believe
conspiracy theories, yet on a subsequent appearance on  the  "E!"
channel  he seems to believe just the opposite:  friends tell how
talking with  him  at  length  "really  got  them  believing this
stuff."  Gibson reportedly has done a great deal of research into
the various conspiracy  theories,  and  has  stated  that  "human
nature  doesn't change" and that "conspiracies have been going on
since the time of Cain and Abel."

Preliminary reports have the movie, "Conspiracy Theory,"  nudging
out  "Air  Force  One"  as number #1 money-making movie this past
weekend.  The people  involved  with  this  latest entry into the
conspiracy genre must have known  they  were  taking  a  risk  in
daring  to present conspiracy theories in a positive light.  Will
their  financial  and  career   risks   in  daring  to  challenge
prevailing orthodoxy be rewarded, thus signalling other producers
that the genre can make money? Let's hope so.

 +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +

For related stories, visit:
http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html
http://feustel.mixi.net

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       of Conspiracy Nation, nor of its Editor in Chief.
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