'Untouchables' meets 'Midnight Express' and 'Mockingbird'

Rating: Null/10 (7 August 2004)

Some spoilers...
Funny how perceptions of movies change over time. 'Alien 4' has grown on me, 'Thin Red Line' has, 'Wizards' has, even 'Pink Floyd', but this one sank upon revisiting it.
Parker's stuff is technically competent, I'll grant him that, and he has a decent grip on production values--which is more than I can say for most directors--but something wrong is afoot here. I think Parker frequents the musical genre so he can pass off his razzle-dazzle style without worrying about filmic stimulation. As compensation, he uses symbolism-loaded "art" images. Watch when the Klan attacks the church, instead of Ollie Stone-style brutality, we get a 'Face/Off' music video.
If you're into that sort of thing you'll love his work but I find it thuggish and sanitized (like 'Lord of the Rings'). Honestly, it's editor Gerry Hambling that's made Parker famous, nothing else.
The story here is too simple, but get rather interesting when you see the Hoover-Vietnam-King connection. Do some reading into that later. Storywise, Parker's 'Wall' is better as it mixes past/present, real/fantasy, time/space into one crazy mix.
Fortunately, the acting is interesting--Parker really got an unorthodox cast. Each actor takes two characters to make a new knockoff. Hackman takes his Doyle from 'Connection' and uses Connery from 'Untouchables'. Dafoe does his Christ with Atticus Finch. Dourif combines Piter deVries from 'Dune' with Barney Fife.
Want some cinematic irony? Compare this with 'Die Hard'. Both involve terrorism, xenophobia, and some competent attempts at being cinematic with many elements (flying, explosions, height, night, claustrophobia). Here the good white guys save the inactive Blacks from the bad white guys. Boring. At least McTiernan made things interesting: Black cop saves white cop from Nazis.
Your favorite Parker will depend on your tendencies, but if you want intelligent Klan bashing, watch 'O Brother'.