Conspiracy Theory

• Directed by Richard Donner
• August 8, 1997 (US)

A taxi driver obsessed with conspiracy theories becomes a target when one of them turns out to be true.

Conspiracy Theory is a movie from the day and age when Mel Gibson was a star and a certifiable draw. He still has the talent but, well, I think everybody knows how he shot himself in the foot. His ability to create a believable and interesting character makes the taxi driver/conspiracy theorist Jerry Fletcher more than some weirdo. Jerry is equal parts humorous, paranoid, and a wounded soul with even a hint of vulnerability.

The movie starts off with Jerry rattling off conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory to whatever passenger gets in his cab. Even though we the viewer know this story is going to involve some conspiracy that’s proven true it puts into the mind of that same viewer that Jerry’s not all there. A great way to put necessary doubt into the audience’s mind.

Jerry’s love interest for lack of a better word is Justice Department lawyer Alice Sutton played by Julia Roberts. Alice has some baggage of her own though that reveal comes down the road. She tolerates Jerry because he saved her life though thinks he is just a well-meaning crackpot. I am not a Julia Roberts fan nor am I hater. She often has a been-there-done-that attitude with her characters or I-am-so-over-this tone. Here not necessarily. Not the standard performance she regularly uses but something different under the guiding hand of Richard Donner.

Patrick Stewart as the villain Dr. Jonas was a refreshing surprise. To be honest I only really recalled him from TNG and Excalibur. I guess George Lucas was right: British people just sound more evil. Stewart has that superficial kindness that you just know hides something very dark.

On this viewing what dawned on me was this was not about a single conspiracy theory but rather that Jonas has his hands involved in MULTIPLE conspiracies. What they exactly are is purposely vague though we do know somehow he got NASA to trigger an earthquake in Turkey to try and kill the President. That just sounds like a bad plan. Not that earthquakes do not cause death but that is a pretty imprecise weapon to kill one person. Anywho…

What is obvious from the start is that Jerry was able to step in quickly to help Alice to save her life before the start of the movie because he was stalking her. He even during the movie watches her run on the treadmill. Yet that revelation before we learn the good reason why is never creepy. It feels somehow charming thanks to Donner and Gibson.

Donner makes the connection between Alice and Jerry plausible even though the story he tells on how the ball got rolling sounds a bit ludicrous. Maybe in part because we never learn what was the goal of the one mind-controlled patsy. What was to be gained by his crime? Maybe lingering questions is what keeps you watching without this being a crazy actioner.

Though initially Alice only feels pity for Jerry, by the end she does feel something because a guy who has had his brain screwed with to easily kill is the person you want to fall in love with. They do not go off into the sunset with the appearance of settling down together but you are left thinking they could at some point.

I do have a little bit of an issue with the ending. Jerry gets shot and then we learn he is not dead but is being kept hidden until things settle and he can be fully debriefed. The thing is HE WAS SHOT WITHOUT A VEST! There it engages in the ‘tis but a flesh wound’ cliché where the serious wound just LOOKS serious. I get hiding him but Donner could do better.

Then again, the movie itself flows between intelligent and escapist. It definitely has some Lethal Weapon level moments. Not unexpected from Richard Donner but I think if he’d pulled back from that he could’ve made a very intelligent and still entertaining film.

Though a bit forgotten about and with some issues, Conspiracy Theory is entertaining. Not the greatest conspiracy movie but a fine one.