Customer Reviews

Assassination File [VHS]

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As made for video movies go, this is much better than most with solid performances and a conspiracy story-line which is much more than what you expect. Give it a try.

I won't remember this movie in six months, but it's a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. The conspiracy theory thriller is a genre that works, so if no new ground was covered here, at least what's here works. It's fun to see Dietrich Bader of Drew Carey and Whose Line Is It Anyway in a straight role, and Sherilyn Fenn acquits herself well. I'm not sorry I watched it.

A regrettable rental, this run-of-the-mill conspiracy silliness is made all the more painful by the its actors' sincerity. Basically, in the mid-90s someone got the idea of capitalizing on the country's X-Files fetish by producing this paint-by-numbers, half-hearted script. Everything that isn't telegraphed in advance is an inevitable cliche. You end up wanting to ask this dedicated ex-FBI woman as she's wandering around in her desperate confusion, "What's wrong with you? Haven't you seen any conspiracy flicks before?" Typical dialogue:
"They will stop at nothing."
"But who are They?"
"You never know who They are. They are like shadows."
"That's right. You never know who They are until it is too late."
"What are Their objectives?"
"Only this: Power."

I guess if we actually swallowed such farcical and lazy writing, we would be seized with paranoia, but since our leaders are admittedly only so-so when it comes even to geography, it's hard to be impressed by such callow, pandering ridiculousness.