Pursued

Kristoffer Tabori's "Pursued", suffers from the screen play written by Maggie April. Mr. Tabori, an excellent actor, who has turned his attention to directing, seems to be out of his element with this movie. Thrillers that are based on revolutionary technology don't seem to translate well to the screen, as it's the case with "Pursued".

In fact, Mr. Tabori gets an over the top performance from Christian Slater, as the evil Vincent Palmer, who like all villains, seems to be miles ahead of everyone else in the story. On the other hand, Gil Bellows, who is the victim of Palmer, seems to be completely impotent to do anything, or even go to the police with the troubles he is facing. The problem seems to be exacerbated by Mr. Bellows' take on the character, as he makes him even weaker.

The result is an uneven film, that showed possibilities, but in the end, doesn't fulfill them. For a film that deals in cutting edge technology, one would think that Ben Keats, the genius behind the new program that will revolutionize cyberspace tracking, would have been aware of the spies out there, especially the scumbag that is making his life impossible, and invested in the best anti-spy software money could buy. The only point the film makes is how prevalent industrial spying is in the hands of people like the repulsive Vincent Palmer.

I enjoyed the movie, but with some reservations. I've been a Slater fan for years and liked this role for him. My problem with this is the way the main characters (Gil Bellows) had such difficulty in coming to grips with industrial sabotage. This guy is a computer genius and works in electronics but it took almost half the movie to realize that he was bugged. This even after he was given warnings by a corporate surveillance expert. The way he let his wife and child interact with Slater's character was totally out of this world. Maybe I speak only for myself but if someone harasses me and mine, I'm not cordial and I will not allow my family to associate with them either. That's not anti-social, it's logical to protect their own family. The action was OK if anti-climatic and was very predictable. One area I didn't understand was the first CEO that was introduced and the murder of his wife. He was so worried about being arrested that he didn't seem irritated at Slater over the murder. Is this normal behavior or not? It kinda sets the setting for the whole movie. I did like what he told the lead when he confronted him, "sign with him or kill him." I guess it worked out that way. Overall not a bad movie.

Vincent Palmer (Christian Slater) is a deranged headhunter preying upon unsuspecting, talented CEOs. Vincent refuses to take "no" for an answer until his victims agree to leave their present jobs and accept multi-million-dollar offers that no one can refuse.

There were two good character profiles locked in conflict in the struggle between the hyperkinetic Vincent and Ben Keats (Gil Bellows). The two characters were so different that the contrast in the rapacious Vincent and the honest Ben made for a good melodrama set in corporate America. The integrity of Ben was a breath of fresh air in today's cutthroat executive world.

Director Kristoffer Tabori provided good pacing throughout the film. There was also a clever idea in the new industry headed by Ben and his boss (Michael Clarke Duncan) called Viztrak. Their invention is a serum intended for children in the ability to use satellite technology to track a lost child anywhere in the world. It was unfortunate that the Viztrak concept was not used more extensively in this action film.

Still, this was an entertaining and suspenseful low-budget film highlighted by the contrast of two men with completely different personality profiles and outlooks on life. Their struggle made for compelling drama.

Ever since Heathers, made when Christian Slater was a bubblegum pop idol, he's specialized in quirky roles. They can be quirky psychotic like Heathers or quirky lovable as Kuffs. In Pursued Slater falls firmly on the psychotic side.

Parts like these allow actors to pull out all the stops and Slater does it with gusto. He's on some kind of anti-psychotic drugs and I'd hate to see him when he's not taking the meds. He's a corporate recruiter who gets hired by companies to find the best executives. Sometimes they're an easy sell and sometimes not. But one thing though, Slater never takes no for an answer.

His latest project Gil Bellows has a stubborn streak of loyalty to the company he works for and its president Michael Clarke Duncan. He does not believe that Slater has resorted to murder in the past to obtain his objective. He then gets good and sufficient reason to believe it. Slater does not like to lose at anything, he sees corporate head hunting as a blood sport and wants his trophy every time.

If you're a fan of Christian Slater this film should not be missed. Director Kristoffer Tabori had a loose rein on Slater throughout this production and he ran with it.

It's overacting to the max, but the part calls for it.

"Pursued" is a good mystery\thriller with some silly moments. Christian Slater stars as Vincent Palmer, a headhunter who recruits up-and-comers in the technology business. He does whatever it takes. This is the probably the first time Christian Slater plays a psycho. He plays it convincingly. He does such a excellent job, you root for him. Anytime Vincent is on-screen (which is most of the time)the movie has a lot of energy. The other main character is Ben Keats, played by Gil Bellows. Unfortunately, Ben is a two dimensional character who is a little too laid back. There are a couple of plot missteps like Ben getting a speech about secret cameras that could be in a pen and then the next scene is Ben getting a pen and he doesn't check for a camera. It's like he forgot the whole speech. The climax is exciting but a tad goofy. In the end: It's worth seeing for a great, hyped up performance by Christian Slater and a lot of other tension filled moments.

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