Review of The Conspirator (2011) by Maksim B — 04 Jan 2012

The Conspirator is an affecting historical drama which teaches a fine historical lesson on democracy, humanity and believes. It clearly fails to become the court-drama it promises to be, but its solid cast and much predictable Robert Redford idealism turn this movie into a decent historical drama.

The story of Lincoln's assassination and the trial that followed is depicted in a detailed manner, successfully showing the drama and the aftermath of his death on the American society. The feelings of revenge, sorrow and the desperate attempt to heal a badly wounded nation take most of the first half of the movie. The first sixty minutes stand more as a historical lesson than an actual drama. This is turned upside down in the second half, when the drama of Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) and her lawyer Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) reach its climax and delivers the best of performances by both actors.

Speaking of actors, the cast of The Conspirator has obviously been carefully chosen, since there is literary no weak link in it. Robin Wright delivers quite a convincing performance while the idealist James McAvoy makes the best use of his blue eyes and innocent face. On the supporting side Tom Wilkinson and Kevin Kline act as tool for Robert Redford's typical moments of pathetic idealism and principles.

This, in fact where The Conspirator fails to impress. Besides that fact that it is too slow, it is marked by Robert Redford typical style of pathetic speeches, philosophical monologues on democracy, values and rights ( at least this time more convincing than in "Lions for Lambs"). His typical style would have been more successful if the move had been more focused on one matter than on several ones. This unsuccessful attempt to combine a drama, a court drama and a lesson on democracy and human rights is what deprives The Conspirator from being something more than just a watchable movie.