Absolute Power

Absolute Power
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Clint Eastwood
Produced by	Clint Eastwood Karen Spiegel
Written by	David Baldacci (novel) William Goldman (Screenplay)
Starring	Clint Eastwood Gene Hackman Ed Harris Laura Linney Judy Davis Scott Glenn E.G. Marshall Dennis Haysbert
Music by	Lennie Niehaus
Cinematography	Jack N. Green
Editing by	Joel Cox
Studio	Castle Rock Entertainment Malpaso Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures (later Warner Bros.)
Release date(s)	February 14, 1997
Running time	121 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$50 million
Box office	$50,068,310

Absolute Power is a 1997 American political thriller film produced by, directed by, and starring Clint Eastwood as a master jewel thief who witnesses the killing of a woman by Secret Service agents. The screenplay by William Goldman is based on the 1996 novel Absolute Power by David Baldacci. Screened at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival,^[1] the film also stars Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, and Scott Glenn. It was also the last screen appearance of E.G. Marshall.

Plot

During the course of a burglary, master jewel thief Luther Whitney (Clint Eastwood) witnesses Secret Service agents killing Christy Sullivan (Melora Hardin), the beautiful young wife of elderly billionaire Walter Sullivan (E.G. Marshall), during her drunken rendezvous with Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman), the President of the United States. Walter Sullivan is Richmond's friend and financial supporter. Hiding behind a one-way mirror, Luther watches as Richmond sadistically slaps Christy and tries to strangle her. When she attacks him with a letter opener, President Richmond calls for help, and Secret Service agents Bill Burton (Scott Glenn) and Tim Collin (Dennis Haysbert) shoot her to death. Chief of Staff Gloria Russell (Judy Davis) arrives on the scene and makes the scene appear as if a burglar killed her. Luther escapes with some valuables and the bloody letter opener, but the Secret Service witness his escape.

The next day, Detective Seth Frank (Ed Harris) begins his investigation of the crime, and although Luther quickly becomes a prime suspect in the burglary, Frank does not believe he murdered Christy. As Luther is about to flee the country, he sees President Richmond on television, vowing to find the murderer. Incensed by this hypocrisy, Luther decides to bring the president to justice. Meanwhile, Burton asks Frank to keep him informed about the case while a Secret Service agent wiretaps Frank's office telephone.

Luther's estranged daughter Kate (Laura Linney), who works as a prosecutor, is contacted by Detective Frank, and the two go to Luther's town house to search for clues. Photographs of her in the house indicate that Luther has secretly been watching her as she grew up. She still suspects him of killing Christy, so she agrees to Frank's request that she meet with Luther. Frank guarantees Luther's safety, but Burton learns about the plan through the wiretap, and someone alerts Sullivan, who hires a hitman (Richard Jenkins) to kill Luther. At the meeting, Collin's sniper and Sullivan's sniper, each unaware of the other, try to shoot Luther, but they both miss, and Luther escapes through the police cordon by posing as a police officer. Back at Kate's apartment, Luther comes out of hiding and explains to Kate how Christy was killed, and then leaves.

Luther taunts Chief of Staff Russell by sending her a photograph of the letter opener and tricking her into wearing Christy's necklace in public. Correctly suspecting that Kate knows the truth, President Richmond orders Collin and Burton to kill her. When Detective Frank tells Luther that the Secret Service has taken over surveillance of Kate, Luther races back to Washington D.C. to protect her. He arrives at her jogging area just moments after Collin used his SUV to push her and her car off a cliff. Collin tries to kill her again at the hospital, approaching her bed with a poison-filled syringe, but Luther stops him, jabbing him in the neck with a poison-filled syringe of Luther's own, forcing Collin to drop his. When Collin pleads for mercy, Luther says he's "fresh out" and delivers the fatal dose.

After learning from Detective Frank that Sullivan gave no reason why Christy stayed home—she had claimed to her husband, and to him only, that she was sick—Luther incapacitates Sullivan's chauffeur and drives Sullivan around Washington, telling him what happened on the night of the murder and explaining that the president incriminated himself in a speech by citing Christy's excuse for staying home, which he could only have learned from her. Luther gives Sullivan the letter opener and drops him off outside the White House, and Sullivan carries the letter opener into the Oval Office.

Meanwhile, alerted by Luther that his phones are bugged, Detective Frank goes to Burton's office, where he discovers that a remorseful Burton has committed suicide for his attempt on Kate's life. Frank uses the evidence Burton left behind to arrest Russell. Later, on the television news, Sullivan claims that the president committed suicide by stabbing himself to death. Back at the hospital, Luther watches over Kate in her hospital bed, sketching her. After Detective Frank visits briefly, Luther suggests to Kate that she invite Frank to dinner sometime, and then continues to draw a sketch of the daughter he loves.

Cast

• Clint Eastwood as Luther Whitney^{[N 1]}
• Gene Hackman as President Alan Richmond
• Ed Harris as Detective Seth Frank
• Laura Linney as Kate Whitney
• Scott Glenn as Agent Bill Burton
• Dennis Haysbert as Agent Tim Collin
• Judy Davis as Chief of Staff Gloria Russell
• E. G. Marshall as Walter Sullivan
• Melora Hardin as Christy Sullivan
• Kenneth Welsh as Sandy Lord
• Penny Johnson as Laura Simon
• Richard Jenkins as Michael McCarty
• Mark Margolis as Red Brandsford
• Elaine Kagan as Valerie

Production

When Eastwood first heard about turning the book into a film, he liked the characters and the basic plot, but disliked the fact that most of whom he considered the interesting characters were killed off. When he talked to screenwriter William Goldman, he requested Goldman make sure that "everyone the audience likes doesn't get killed off."^[2] Absolute Power was filmed between June and July 1996 in Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland.^[3]

Differences between book and film

• The main protagonist in the novel is a young lawyer named Jack Graham, a good friend of Luther's and his daughter Kate's ex-boyfriend. He was completely omitted in the film adaptation.
• The physical features of the characters in the novel are significantly different than in the film: President Richmond is much younger (described as being in his early 40s), Gloria Russell is younger as well (38 years old), Agent Collin is caucasian as opposed to being African-American in the film, and Walter Sullivan is slightly older in the book than in the film.
• Luther is caught by police instead of escaping when the snipers bungle their attempt to shoot him at his meeting with Kate, and then he is killed by Agent Collin while being brought into the courthouse for his arraignment.
• Walter Sullivan is killed 2/3 of the way through the book by Agent Burton after the president realizes that Sullivan has figured out, from the president's slip of the tongue about why Christy didn't go to Barbados, that the president was involved in her death.
• The novel's end is entirely different from that of the film: President Richmond is impeached and receives the death penalty, Gloria Russell receives 10 years probation rather than prison time in exchange for testifying against the president in court, Agent Collin is sentenced to 20 years in prison instead of being injected with poison by Luther, Agent Burton commits suicide in his home rather than his office, and Kate is not forced over a cliff in her car in the novel, but leaves Washington, D. C. and moves to Atlanta, Georgia.

Reception

Critical reception

In her review in The New York Times, Janet Maslin gave it a mixed review, writing, "Mr. Eastwood directs a sensible-looking genre film with smooth expertise, but its plot is quietly berserk." Maslin goes on to write, "Mr. Eastwood's own performance sets a high-water mark for laconic intelligence and makes the star seem youthfully spry by joking so much about his age."^[4]

On the aggregate reviewer web site Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 45% positive rating from top film critics based on 42 reviews, and a 52% positive audience rating based on 30,982 reviews.

Box office

The film was not a box office success domestically, grossing $16,770,220 on its opening weekend. The film earned a total domestic box office gross of $50,068,310, barely recouping its $50 million budget.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

• Absolute Power at the Internet Movie Database
• Absolute Power at the TCM Movie Database
• Absolute Power at AllRovi
• Absolute Power at Rotten Tomatoes
• Absolute Power at Box Office Mojo