Target

The performances of Matt Dillon and Gene Hackman brought this film right over the top for me.

Dillon's character grows from being an obnoxious teenager, who sees Dad as an un-hip set of car keys with a hand attached to them, through the astonishing realization that Dad just may be "James Bond".

And Gene Hackman brings his blazing talent to the table, unfolding from a middle-aged, pokey, conservative, 35-mile-an-hour, aw-shucks businessman into a multilingual, multitalented super-spook.

The two interact perfectly! As they face dangers and intrigue together in a wild ride across the globe to save Mom, it is a delight to see them discover and appreciate the depths of each others' characters and become friends and partners.

"Saving Mom", was almost irrelevant!

OK; it IS a bit trite, but still an edge-of-the-seater nonetheless. Surprises galore to keep your imagination occupied, though thriller buffs will predict most of them. I found that part of the fun: keeping score of how many "surprises" i anticipated. Still, the denouement packs punch and satisfies. Great performances by most of the cast, esp. Hackman, who always has that knack of being 'perfect' for the part, doesn't he? and Damon, very apt in this early role. The art direction is superb, the location shooting very convincing. If you like thrillers/whoodunits you WILL be entertained. I gave it only a 7 because reading Sartre is probably a better use of two hours....

From 1985: "Target," directed by Arthur Penn, stars Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon as father and son.

"Target" concerns the abduction of Walter Lloyd's (Hackman) wife while she is in France with a tour group. Lloyd understands the implications immediately, but his son Chris (Matt Dillon) doesn't: Someone is after Lloyd, or information in his possession. Father and son leave immediately for Europe to find her. There, Chris learns information about his father that he never knew. And that's all I can say without giving the game away - which, if you've seen a lot of these films, is pretty apparent.

The problem with "Target" is in the beginning of the film, which has a TV-movie feel to it. Plus, despite locations in Paris and Germany later on, the beginning has a cheap feel to it due to the music and credits, not to mention some trite dialogue and the usual "try to get to know your son while I'm away" speech. It's a bad set-up.

Gene Hackman is terrific as Walter, and Matt Dillon is fine as his son. The standout performance, in my opinion, is by the great acting guru and Broadway star Herbert Berghof in a rare film appearance toward the end of the movie. There are some excellent European actors as well, including the Russian actress Viktoriya Fyodorova.

If not for the beginning, which threw me off, this would have been a better film.

The concentration on character and family values in Arthur Penn's spy thriller ought to make it a better, more intelligent movie, but somehow it doesn't work. Gene Hackman is an ex-CIA spy who's been "in from the cold" for 15 years. But now his wife has been kidnapped in Paris, and he has to get back into top gear in order to retrieve her. He also has to tell the truth about his past to his 18 year old son (Matt Dillon), who hitherto has thought his dad as much a man of action as Mr Magoo. There are all the contrivances we expect in this genre of film - repeated attempts on Hackman's life; car chases; femmes fatales; CIA agents who might be working for the other side; etc, etc. But little tension is developed, and first the recriminations and then the bonding between Hackman and Dillon simply slow the action down. I found the climax a tad ludicrous, but by that time didn't care much.

This movie is often dismissed as just an average Cold War spy flick. But in fact it is quite a bit more than that. It can well hold its own, thanks to the solid direction and first-rate performances by Hackman and Dillon.

These two never disappoint and seem to have had fun working together. They relaxedly fill in all the little character incongruities.

The story is interesting, but could have used much more exact local detail instead of this chain of insipid cutouts from travel brochures. The locals, but also the spies talk and behave like cardboard figures and tend to lessen the atmosphere a little. The same goes for a lot of the locations.

Recommended for fans of Dillon and Hackman, but also for those of you who like a solid spy movie.