Thrilling suspenseful picture by Wolfgang Peterson, back when he could actually direct, with Clint Eastwood going toe and head against the brilliant John Malkovich in his Oscar-nominated performance as the whacked-out CIA killers-turned-would-be assassin.
Its a tip of hat at Peterson to cut and make a film work its charm, even over such Eastwood genre-garbage like inept asshole bureaucrats, teaching some "rookie" the streets, and other nonsense. Though really, maybe its Malkovich playing almost the Colonel Kurtz of this tale, the guys that once was of the human race before he journeyed down the river, and unexplainably became something else...thing is, is he really a psychopath who thinks the government is out to exterminate him, or was he really fighting the government itself, with this Presidential assassination being his "strike back"? Unknown, though good betting money would be placed on him flunking the psychiatric test, but its worth a thought.
This was Eastwood's solid comeback in Hollywood after several duds(save for his Oscar-winning UNFORGIVEN) and especially with the major bomb in THE ROOKIE.
Anyone remember the infamous teaser trailer that read "1963" then ticked towards 1993, the one that apparently got hostile reactions in many theaters?
