Pete St. John (Richard Gere) is a high-powered political consultant. One moment, he's working for a Latin American revolutionary. Next, he's in American politics. Rival consultant Arnold Billings (Denzel Washington) works for Arab oil and doesn't want his man to win in Latin America. Ellen Freeman (Julie Christie) is his ex-wife, Sydney Betterman (Kate Capshaw) is his assistant, and Wilfred Buckley (Gene Hackman) is his ex-partner. His friend, Ohio US Senator Sam Hastings (E. G. Marshall), is retiring while suspiciously claiming to be ill. Billings calls him up offering wealthy unknown businessman Jerome Cade (J. T. Walsh) for the seat. He joins the campaign and slowly uncovers the dirty politics.
This is directed by Sidney Lumet and I've never heard of it. There are some big names here. Sure, it's not the right genre for me back in the day. It probably wasn't well-received enough to piqued my curiosity. The political machine is well-researched. Some is more real and predictive than others. The backroom is somewhat fine, but there is no ground game. It tries for some comedy which doesn't work. The climax has no action or kinetic energy. The story has a reveal which isn't that surprising or that dark. This is all a bit flat.
This is directed by Sidney Lumet and I've never heard of it. There are some big names here. Sure, it's not the right genre for me back in the day. It probably wasn't well-received enough to piqued my curiosity. The political machine is well-researched. Some is more real and predictive than others. The backroom is somewhat fine, but there is no ground game. It tries for some comedy which doesn't work. The climax has no action or kinetic energy. The story has a reveal which isn't that surprising or that dark. This is all a bit flat.