TRUE LIES
US, 1994, 141 minutes, Colour.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Art Malik, Eliza Dushku, Grant Heslov, Charleton Heston.
Directed by James Cameron.
The writer and director of this film, an adaptation of a French film, La Totale!, with Thierry Lhermitte and Miou- Miou, and directed by Claude Zidi, is James Cameron. He had worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the two Terminator films and had made Piranha, Aliens and The Abyss. Titanic was only three years away.
For a while, it looks as if this might be Schwarzenegger as James Bond. But then the plot (of a spy who hasn’t told his wife that he is) gets waylaid for a long time in a generally actionless subplot about the wife and her supposed infidelity, ending up in a wildly improbable sex farce atmosphere. Jamie Lee Curtis gives it all she’s got.
And then it’s back to the action. But, by this time, the action is so over the top that Schwarzenegger is winking at us and at the characters. Then the villain, perched on Arnie’s harrier jet above the city square, hovering next to a skyscraper whose top floors have been explosively demolished – oh, and his daughter is also hanging on to the front of the jet and they are all fighting – well, even the villain winks at us. So…
It is said that True Lies cost $100 million to make. Perhaps this is publicity hype. The spectacle and the special effects (and they are truly amazing) are not given any real context, just a contrived series of stunts that make the film seem self-indulgent and extravagant.
The film has an interesting supporting cast including Tom Arnold as Schwarzenegger’s associate, as well as Charleton Heston as the boss. Tia Carrere is a glamorous archaeologist and spy. And Bill Paxton as the dreamer who tells women that he is a spy in order to charm and seduce but who gets his comeuppance.
James Cameron was continue his dominance in Hollywood, not only with Titanic and the documentaries associated with it but with Avatar.
1. An action film? Spoof? Stunts and effects? Based on the French film?
2. James Cameron and his career, his work with Arnold Schwarzenegger, with his cast? Stunts and effects? Musical score?
3. Washington DC, the world of espionage, the CIA? Switzerland, fashion, the mansion? Florida, the water, the Bridge? The city, the skyscrapers?
4. The title and its irony?
5. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry, his alleged office job, at home, with his wife, his daughter and her teenage attitudes? His routine life, not telling his wife, her not suspecting?
6. The team for the Swiss action, Harry’s skill in entering the building, his formal dress, Albert and his associate, keeping in audio contact? Visual surveillance? The rooms, the guests, Harry passing through, the computer, downloading the material, mingling with the guests, the encounter with Juno Skinner, the talk, her seductive manner? The archaeological background and explanations? The timing, his escape? Her later encounter with Harry, the archaeological scene, her betrayal?
7. Charlton Heston, the boss, his demands, interactions with the group?
8. The contrast with home, ordinary, his suspicions of Helen, the contact with Simon, the puzzle, his surveillance, watching their meetings, the talk, tracking Simon, going to the sales yard, pretending to buy the car, the ride, speed, his spiel for Simon?
9. Simon, as a character, selling the cars, the contact with Helen, the meetings, his stories about espionage, the secrecy, Helen believing him, his phone calls, the codes? The confrontation with Harry, the interrogation, his fear, wetting himself?
10. Harry and his attitude towards his wife, the interrogations, the truth? Her being given the assignment, the sexual behaviour, the striptease, Helen doing it, but trying to obey the commands for the tapes?
11. Harry, delayed coming home, the men following him, the hotel, the fights? The confrontation in the toilet? The elevators? The bikes? Riding the horse? the villain leaping across buildings? Harry, going over the edge, the horse bringing him back?
12. The villains, Middle East, the planned, terrorism? Effective or not? Salim and his antagonism towards Harry? Terrorism in the light of succeeding decades?
13. The abduction of Helen and Harry? Helen and her wanting to explain and save Harry? Not suspecting him? The irony of the truth?
14. Salim and the abduction of Harrys daughter, the jet, the bridge, the collapse, Albert and the communication? The jet, the fight, the daughter and Salim, the final crash, rescue?
15. The characters as exaggerated, with a touch of caricature?
16. The code of Boris and Doris, one year later, the missions, Helen and her desire to do something more with her life than the ordinary?
17. The spoof and tongue in cheek action in the James Bond tradition?
