More than a modern All the President's Men

Rating: 8/10 (11 January 2000)

The sense of scandal and coverup is in the air of this film, just like the political thrillers of the 1970s. I was truly impressed at the amount of drama and suspense that was packed into this story, even though some of it is fictional. The performances are outstanding, too. Everyone is singing praises for Russell Crowe, and with good reason. The ones that really blew me away, though, were Al Pacino and Christopher Plummer. Director Michael Mann also snuck some clever camera work and beautiful photography in. The only problem I had with the film was that some of the camera work was unprofessionally shaky. Other than that, though, I can just about guarantee this film will surprise you with its depth. It's one of the year's five best.