Customer Reviews

A Flash of Green

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Very rarely do you find a film that stays as true to the book as Victor
Nunez 's A FLASH of GREEN. Based on the story by author John Macdonald.
Director Nunez uses his native Florida as a background to set the stage
for a remarkably realistic cast of characters. Those familiar with
Nunez's other films like RUBY in PARADISE are sure to appreciate the
calm and steady story line presented here. John Macdonald's novel is
set in Florida as was his more famous work CAPE FEAR. The director's
knowledge and understanding of small town Florida adds to the
authenticity.

Richard Jordan both produced and starred in this little known film
about political corruption and corporate greed. Ed Harris plays a
newspaper reporter who struggles with the seductive evils of corruption
in this provocative absorbing thriller. Blair Brown plays the leader of
a group determined to stop the unscrupulous land developers from over
taking their community through corrupt political means. Richard Jordan
is the ruthless and two-faced politician who is secretly siding with
the land developers. Harris the journalist is having trouble being
objective on both sides. As he his tempted by corruption and intrigued
by the woman who battles against them.

The film is from 1984 just after Ed Harris's success with THE RIGHT
STUFF. He and the entire cast including John Glover are at their best.
The film is well worth finding even though it is not yet on DVD.

Easily the best film adaptation of John D. MacDonald's work, and the only one to catch the soul of his work. "Cape Fear" is better known, and easily parodied, but both versions focus on the violence in MacDonald's books and miss the true themes of his books. Films of the popular "Travis McGee" series have been uniformly vile. Director Victor Nunez ("Ulee's Gold) understood that "Flash of Green" isn't just about developers versus ecologists; the greater drama is about a man's failure of moral courage and his slow, painful redemption. MacDonald himself has a cameo as a bridgekeeper.

This is one of the best political films I have ever seen, one of the most realistic, set I believe in the 1950s. I saw this about 20 years ago and details from it have stuck in my mind ever since; repeated re-viewings have only strengthened my admiration for the film.

The plot involves a local pol, who runs a machine that provides jobs and a pro-development stance with dirty and under-handed methods. Ed Harris is a reporter on a local paper whose wife is in the last stage of a terminal illness, in need of something to do and yearning for a life that is less parochial. The political boss (Richard Jordan in a wonderful performance as this sleazy, devious, mesmerizing man of power) recognizes he can use Harris' reporter skills but also his desire for distraction in work. He convinces Harris, in his distraction and grief, to uncover dirty secrets of an environmental activist who opposes the plans of a patron, the basis of his power. One of the fascinating aspects of this is how Jordan sees his job as a game, manipulating events and people regardless of the personal costs and absolutely indifferent to the feelings or opinions of others - in other words, a realistic politician whose ambition is linked to a sickening narcissism.

Once Harris sees the personal damage that he did as a freelance hatchet man, he comes to his senses at the moment that his wife dies. His performance is believable and deeply moving, one of his best. Then he attempts to undo the damage, to bring down the pol and redeem himself in his own eyes and that of his friend, a local beauty in her prime played by Blair Brown. Having been fired for his efforts, Harris accepts, even seeks out, to be beaten by local thugs as atonement, eventually convincing the pol to enable him to return to his old job as an opponent (again, as a player in the game). Harris is renewed by this, and loves his home in a new way, though the once-pristine lake is despoliated to a degree.

Recommended. This is a powerful and deep film that all student of politics should see.