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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
It's Not a Conspiracy!, April 17, 2008
This movie vanished without a trace--but it's not a conspiracy. It's just no blockbuster. Adding to what has already been written above: Kilmer plays "MacPherson", an Iraq war veteran (I wasn't even sure which Iraq war he was in, but does it really matter? Presumably it was the latest one). His unit gets hit by an explosive device in a particularly nasty fashion, a bunch of men die and others are badly injured. He and another man spend months recuperating and become best friends. He returns home (somewhere in CA I think) and has PTSD. Friend keeps bugging him to come down to AZ. Finally he goes down, only to find said friend gone, and nobody admits to having heard of him, or that his address even existed. Meanwhile the only news in this 2-bit town is all the new construction going on by--like the man above said--Halicorp. Yes the bad guy is sort of a cross between Cheney and Erik Prince or something. He's virulently xenophobic but there must be more than that going on in his plans (exactly what is never quite made clear) because his construction project seems pretty big.
Well this really isn't much of an action film--it starts slowly and then--well kinda stays slow because Val Kilmer just isn't an action hero anyhow. The best we get is some closeups of his face changing emotion as he somehow transforms from a PTSD wracked vet going nowhere, to a man with a mission again--to figure out what happened to his friend--and then, to pay back a debt of gratitude to him. Gary Cole plays the villain "Rhodes". Greg Serano plays "Miguel", Kilmer's wartime buddy. Jennifer Esposito plays the romantic interest. The music isn't too bad. If you watch this with zero expectations, it's not too bad a film...
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Ole Boys get their butts whupped by Val Kilmer, December 19, 2008
With a few pages from the Rambo film "First Blood," Val Kilmer as ex-Marine and Gulf War veteran "Spooky" MacPherson arrives at the border town of New Lago, in search of his USMC buddy who needs help building his new home in the nearby town of New Hope. Kilmer gets rousted by the Sheriff and his gang of red-neck deputies employed by the megalomaniac John Rhodes (played by Gary Cole - Midnight Caller, Talladega Nights, In The Line Of Fire, Pineapple Express) of Halicorp (a not-so-subtle liberal shot at the Halliburton Corp.) who seems to own the town and its environs; and who also belong to the "United Borders" force (another not-to-subtle shot at the "Minutemen" organization).
Anyway, to make a long story short. MacPherson is arrested, "washed down" (a la First Blood) and then the fun begins when the deputies assault him in his cell later that night. He of course escapes, kicking their butts in the process and then leads the bumbling red-necks on a car chase (he's in one of the deputies cars) which ends with him being shot over a small cliff. Oh, by the way, he suffers PTSD, which in a way, helps him survive and escape.
Well, of course he survives (we later learn he was wearing the body armor of one of the deputies) to be rescued and put up in a small Mexican village by Joanna (Jennifer Esposito - Crash, Related, Samantha Who?) who has been taken care of by the evil Mr. Rhodes. She wants MacPherson to bring down Rhodes. After telling her he's not the man to do it, she shows him the video tape of his friend and families murder.
After that, it's Hell on Earth for Rhodes and all his flunkies. Which concludes in an ambush, sniping and expertly aimed gunfire from semi-auto pistols by MacPherson with the help of one of the deputies (the one who shot him over the cliff) who just happened to be the brother of Joanna.
Very predictable plot after the first 15 minutes. But still an enjoyable kick-butt movie. Don't take this movie seriously. Yes, there's a message about Red-Neck racism, Illegal Aliens, The Minutemen, and the Halliburton Corp. But hey, it's a movie, and whether you take offense to it or agree with its politicized message, don't let it spoil your enjoying this film.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
CONSPIRING AGAINST ENTERTAINMENT, August 5, 2008
There are a number of movies that arrive on DVD shelves that are sent straight there, never to play on the large screen. Some of these are overlooked gems. Some are movies that did well with critics but not with the public. And some are total trash. Consider CONSPIRACY in this last group.
I guess that's not totally correct. The movie does look extremely well photographed. But that's about the best thing that can be said about this movie that feels the need to talk down to every man, woman and child who view it.
The story concerns two soldiers, friends who are both wounded during Desert Storm. They both return home, one Miguel Silva (Greg Serano), to his family in New Lago and the other MacPherson (Val Kilmer) to a series of squalid locales. MacPherson finally follows up the requests of Silva to come visit.
The problems begin when MacPherson arrives to find that Silva and his family are no where to be found. Not only that, the people of New Lago don't seem interested in talking about them or finding them. With the unwanted aid of a local Mexican laborer, MacPherson finds Silva's homestead...which is now barren ground.
Returning to town MacPherson learns more about what is going on. It seems that the town is run by a man named Rhodes, a friend/advisor of the President. At present he is in the midst of making the town a place where "good people" can find a home. An exclusive locale that will be well taken care of on the backs of the locals, mostly Mexican-Americans.
Rhodes is also the main man behind a conglomerate known as Halicorp. This company seems ingratiated with making things happen and making people disappear. And of course, using the cheapest labor that they treat like dirt.
MacPherson also meets a young woman who owns a local store named Joanna (Jeniffer Esposito). Rhodes has a more than affectionate association with Joanna, who it turns out was friends with Silva and his family.
Okay so we now have the whole plan laid out before us. Bad guy takes over town to make it lily white, land owner gets in his way and disappears, good guy comes to the rescue and bad guy's gal helps good guy save the day. Sound good? Not really.
To begin with, the references to the classic film BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK are overplayed. The movie seems almost as if it were a remake of that film with none of the lines, acting, direction...well...about nothing other than the thinly veiled rehash of it's plot and even that is just slightly altered.
The biggest conspiracy in this film is that the movie seems more based on what the director and writer see as conspiracies in today's world than they do on telling the story taking place here and now. The plight of poor Mexican illegals and how they should not have to worry or concern themselves with immigration, how they are abused by the wealthy land owner and most glaring is the similarities drawn between Rhodes and his company. If you can't see the reference in what I've written alone between Rhodes/Halicorp and Cheney/Haliburton you're blind.
The story is so weak and more often than not someone takes a moment to make a speech about how bad some policy or action is (especially Esposito), all of which are references to current political stances of our government and President. I mean come on, I don't agree with everything he and the government has done but man, come on out and say it and don't try and make this movie a metaphor of the whole shebang. Once you go down that path you lose all credibility as well as the attempt to make a decent action flick. Didn't anyone learn when Steven Seagal tried to save the environment in both ON DEADLY GROUND and FIRE DOWN BELOW? Look where those to pictures took his career.
The story is weak, the plot develops at a snails pace to make room for the preaching, the acting for the most part is wooden and the action is nearly non-existent until the end and even that portion of the film seems boring. I say again, the film looked good, but that's about the best that can be said about it.
Worst of all is the fact that the star of the film is Val Kilmer. I've always thought that Kilmer was an unappreciated actor. Go back to his beginnings in TOP SECRET where he displayed a great sense of comic timing, TOP GUN where he gave smarmy new meaning, THE DOORS where he did Jim Morrison dead on, TOMBSTONE where his Doc Holliday helped form a complete ensemble for the film and even THE SAINT where he gave the action thriller a go for it. He's done great stuff. But in this movie he seems as if he's either asleep, drugged out of his gourd, bored or perhaps just walking quietly through it while he contemplates just how to murder his agent for landing him in this mess.
It was difficult to watch this film all the way through. I tired of the preaching, the lack of action for an action film and...well...how about everything? There is no way I could recommend this movie even to those who are die hard Kilmer fans. The director, Adam Marcus, was also responsible for JASON GOES TO HELL. In this case it is the viewers of this drek that are sentenced there. Fortunately there is an escape from this hell. It's called the stop button on your remote.
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