Mission: Incomprehensible

Rating: 6/10 (23 September 2003)

Brian DePalma, whose earlier foray into big-budget Hollywood star-laden product was "The Bonfire of the Vanities," redeems himself here. Adapting an epic satirical bestseller for the screen is evidently far more difficult than adapting a '60s-'70s TV spy thriller.
Cast includes Tom Cruise, of course; Jon Voigt, whom I hadn't seen in ages; Ving Rhames; whatsisname, the guy who jerked Harrison Ford around in "Clear and Present Danger," playing essentially the same smarmy insider jerk here; and Charlie Sheen in a tiny and thankless role. The plot is a series of double and triple crosses in which Cruise is the patsy who has to figure out who's zooming who. Similar to "Eraser," the contemporary Arnie thriller, but miles more convoluted. Incomprehensible, in fact, but it works as a thrill ride.