This is an initially interesting film that turns sour 1/3 of the way through. Gavras wants us to see how an FBI mole, played by Winger, gets caught between bad guys who are outlaws, and bad guys who are government agents. She infiltrates a white supremacy group, and wants out when she decides they are harmless middle of America racists. Then she sleeps with the suspect and then she sees them murder a Black man.
As we are 1/3 of the way through this should be the end of the infiltration phase and beginning of the Trial phase. Nope! Head agent (John Heard) decides that as there is no body there is no evidence. Apparently the eyewitness account of an FBI agent; a missing Black male (who she could identify if given mug shots of any Black male missing from the area); gazillions of automatic weapons bullets in the area; blood everywhere, isn't enough for the FBI So back she goes to get more information! We are supposed to empathize with her dilemma. All I wanted to do was tell her to either get a moral compass, or grow some balls.
The whole movie is overwrought tripe. Winger and Berenger are wasted to Gavras' need to shove our nose into our own home grown racist fascism. I know the FBI aren't boy-scouts, but I think they draw the line at hanging one of their own out to dry, and ignoring murder and Bank robbery in order to pull in the bigger fish.
Gavras grinds his favorite axes: the sickness of fascism, and the corruption of the government. He gets the first one sorta right - how difficult is it to show KKK types as dense morons - but he misses the second one by a mile. Government corruption is much more subtle,much more insidious than this sorry screen play can portray.
As we are 1/3 of the way through this should be the end of the infiltration phase and beginning of the Trial phase. Nope! Head agent (John Heard) decides that as there is no body there is no evidence. Apparently the eyewitness account of an FBI agent; a missing Black male (who she could identify if given mug shots of any Black male missing from the area); gazillions of automatic weapons bullets in the area; blood everywhere, isn't enough for the FBI So back she goes to get more information! We are supposed to empathize with her dilemma. All I wanted to do was tell her to either get a moral compass, or grow some balls.
The whole movie is overwrought tripe. Winger and Berenger are wasted to Gavras' need to shove our nose into our own home grown racist fascism. I know the FBI aren't boy-scouts, but I think they draw the line at hanging one of their own out to dry, and ignoring murder and Bank robbery in order to pull in the bigger fish.
Gavras grinds his favorite axes: the sickness of fascism, and the corruption of the government. He gets the first one sorta right - how difficult is it to show KKK types as dense morons - but he misses the second one by a mile. Government corruption is much more subtle,much more insidious than this sorry screen play can portray.