Review of The Conspirator (2011) by Phil R — 12 Oct 2011

This is one of those movies that you're kind of intrigued by based solely on the cast, but when you hear that it's directed by Robert Redford (A River Runs Through It) and involves a conspiracy, you start to sour on the idea of it.

Look, we all know that Redford is a left-wing hack, but I didn't think he had any right tampering with historical accounts. Fortunately, he didn't tamper too adamantly with history in this flick, but merely used it as a jump-off to explore current events - which made the flick laughably preachy.

It will be adored by those who think our prisons are filled with innocent people or those who think that the government is an unstoppable force of injustice, but it will probably be ignored (or, at least, should be) by those who don't adhere to Redford's politics.

Still, it's unfortunate that the film was chock so full of talented actors like James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class), Robin Wright (New York, I Love You), Kevin Kline (No Strings Attached), Evan Rachel Wood ("True Blood"), Tom Wilkinson (The Green Hornet), Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Alexis Bledel (Sin City), James Badge Dale ("The Pacific"), and even Justin Long (Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel).

It's regrettable that so much talent was victim to a director with a soapbox.