samhill5215

That's how I felt once the premise of the film became clear. I don't mind trashy movies, in fact I love them because they're not pretentious. They don't take themselves seriously unlike this utter piece of trash.

So why does it provoke such a reaction? I mean how could anyone be angry when the three friends of a company's owner try to intervene following the death of his daughter? Well, I wouldn't had that been a reasonable amount of time, say a few months which wouldn't endanger the livelihood of their employees.

But three years? How could they allow this to continue? Where in the world was their responsibility, the responsibility of all four primary characters to the people in the company that made it function? What utter selfishness on their part, engaging in navel gazing, writing letters to time, love and who cares while the company is about to go under.

And to add insult to injury they waste $60K on actors to make him think his missives to these ideas have an audience. No, this is utter nonsense, utter trash. Such behavior should have been handled if not medically then legally. He should have been taken to court and forced to answer or leave the company and grieve on his own time instead of taking the lives of his employees to the gutter with him.

And by the way who grieves for three years? By itself that's a problem. Grief like all emotions dulls with time. It erupts every once in a while but if it remains constant then medical intervention is required.

Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest. Good therapy.

In this, my second viewing, I couldn't help wondering at the motivations of the characters, who they were meant to represent. I'll agree Richard Gere gave a fine performance and his character's actions were understandable if psychopathic until the final scene, perhaps the most absurd of the entire film. I won't reveal it but it left me asking why he behaved like that? The evidence against him was at best weak if any so the only way it worked was for its effect, as a way to put a bow on the whole thing.

And then the Andy Garcia character: he behaved in one of two ways. He either stared with no expression on his face or exploded in uncontrollable rage. That last part would have certainly been used against him in a disciplinary hearing against Gere's character. How someone with so little control of his emotions could ever become an IA cop is beyond me. Or was he supposed to be the stereotype of the Mexican whose passions get the best of him?

Now the women. This has to be one of the most misogynistic films I have ever watched. Think about it: there were three primary female roles, Travis', Grant's and. Metcalf's and they all behaved as satellites of whatever man was around. Keep in mind they were all successful professionals but were reduced to mindless blobs in the presence of a man. Here's a small example: when the Garcia character is introduced to his partner, Laurie Metcalf's character, her first words were to ask him if he wanted coffee. Really? Why was she even in the film anyway? To make his wife (played by Nancy Travis) jealous? Because otherwise her contribution to the investigation was marginal.

The misogyny was at its worst when it came to the Travis character. She, like the other female leads was successful and powerful in her own world, one where she mingled with a range of people, some of whom would naturally flirt with her or worse. Yet despite the fact she chose to be with him he was so insecure he suspected her every action to the point he behaved in an unforgivable manner toward her, in public In my mind it was bad enough to kick him out and never look back. And her reaction? To forgive him and have passionate sex with him. His reaction? To keep asking her why she lied (she didn't) and then have passionate sex. No contrition on his part, no attempt to excuse himself, no, it was natural, understandable and expected. Remember, he was a passionate Mexican after all. Macho men don't say they're sorry.

Grant's character was the most misused. It seemed to be there as filler, with no real purpose other then to expose Gere's character as the worst manipulator. Like Travis she was obviously successful and powerful, at least judging by her car, and yet she became, like the other female leads, mindless and subservient around men. This was not a reflection of the world of the 90s. Women had careers in the 90s, they functioned independently, they didn't need men.

So if you watch this film get ready for the stereotypes because it's filled with them. And leave any expectation of realism at the door. You won't find any. That's not to say the film had nothing to recommend it because technically it was well done and put together. Unfortunately the script and hence the characters dealt with nothing but stereotypes of the worst in us.