A Show of Force

We know that bad things happen and we get treated like mushrooms, but most of us probably prefer not to hear the all truth as it maybe too uncomfortable for us to accept. In this film which takes place in Puerto Rico,two young men are shot dead by the police because they where supposed to be terrorists who where planning an attack. In truth, this was not the case and reporter Kate Melendez played by Amy Irving sets out to prove that the two young men had been murdered. Kate who is the sort of Journalist who "Will not drop the case" even if she herself is in danger is played pretty well by Amy, but Lou Diamond Phillips takes the acting honours as Jesus Fuentes the police undercover agent. The film boasts a good cast which includes Robert Duvall, Kevin Spacey and Andy Garcia who sports a huge black beard which almost covers his entire face. I never really felt that the film dragged although there is not a lot of action in it. An interesting movie yes, but not I thought a particularly memorable one.

Despite a cast of young hopefuls and established actors, "A Show of Force" from 1990 did not hold my interest. To me this looked like a TV movie, and the script was weak.

A Show Of Force is a fictionalization of an actual incident that took place in 1978 in Puerto Rico. At that time on Puerto Rico's Constitution Day, the police allegedly shot and killed two Independista Terrorists who were planning a big attack, one that would arouse the Puerto Rican people to revolution.

The film purports to tell the true story of a planned coup in Puerto Rico by those who wanted independence. The so-called terrorists, on Constitution Day, were going to take over the main TV station and broadcast a message for independence.

It was actually organized by an undercover cop, Jesus Fuentes(Lou Diamond Phillips), who had infiltrated the group. Twp students are killed, and some influential people seem to be sanctioning his activities.

A reporter, Kate Melendez (Amy Irving) is a fictional character created for the purposes of the film. She plays a widow from the states whose husband was a lawyer for the Independence movement.

She suspects some dirty work, and though Fuentes attempts to frighten her, his tactics don't work. To protect her, her boss (Robert Duvall) takes her off the story, but she goes to another network and convinces them to televise the trial.

This film is violent and cheap-looking. Kevin Spacey, around the time his work in "Wiseguy" brought him fame, has a supporting role. In smaller roles: Irving's mother, Prscilla Pointer, Erik Estrada, and Andy Garcia.

The acting is very good, and all the actors deserved better. Amy Irving is a wonderful actress and an underrated one. Phillips, Duvall, and Phillips each do a great job.

Very gritty - not for everyone.

A Show Of Force is a fictionalization of an actual incident that took place in 1978 in Puerto Rico. At that time on Puerto Rico's Constitution Day, the police allegedly shot and killed two Independista Terrorists who were planning a big attack, one that would arouse the Puerto Rican people to revolution.

It was a great deal less than that in the sense that all that was planned was on that Puerto Rican holiday, the 'terrorists' were planning to seize control of the broadcast tower of the main Puerto Rican television station to broadcast a message favoring independence. In fact the whole thing was organized by an undercover police infiltrator in the cell.

All the names in A Show Of Force were changed as they used to say on Dragnet to protect the innocent. In fact whole new characters were created for this story including investigative television reporter Amy Irving, a woman from the States who married and was left a widow to a prominent lawyer for the Independence movement.

The Puerto Rican independence movement has its followers to this day and certainly only a fraction of them would be using terrorist tactics to gain their objective. Back in the Fifties it certainly got a bad name with the American public with the 1950 assassination attempt on President Truman and the later 1954 shooting at the House of Representaives where five members of Congress were wounded.

In fact Puerto Rican politics ever since 1898 when the USA took Puerto Rico almost as an afterthought from the Spanish American War has been divided along that issue into three parts. Those who want to retain the Commonwealth Status the island has now, those who advocate for admission to the USA as a state, and those who want independence. The fear of independence during the Cold War was the exaggerated fear that Puerto Rico would become another Cuba. I think it was sheer paranoia, but a lot of folks believed that, hence the issue and the creation of these straw man terrorists.

There was indeed an investigation by the Puerto Rican Legislature as shown here and indictments were brought forth against the police officers who committed the homicides.

A really good cast was put together in support of Amy Irving that included Robert Duvall, Andy Garcia, Priscilla Pointer, Joseph Campanella, and Kevin Spacey as the FBI man who was the alleged puppet-master.

One character that was genuine though his name was changed in the film as all the others were was the police agent provocateur played by Lou Diamond Phillips. His is the performance that really carries the film. Lou manages to look incredibly sexy in those Seventies fashions and dangerous as well. His is the pivotal character in the film, his scenes with Amy Irving crackle with both hate and sex at the same time.

I did a little research and found that some ten years after the incident at Cerra Maravilla, the real man on whom Phillips's character is based was shot to death by person or persons unknown. But it is presumed that Independista sympathizers did the deed in revenge for being set up as they were. Normally I don't favor these kind of things, but I think some justice got done there.

The film was shot entirely in Puerto Rico at the places and locations of where things actually took place. I happened to visit there in 1983 and I recognized any number of scenes in and around San Juan. A Show Of Force is far from accurate, but it does give you a good background as to the incident Cerra Maravilla in 1978 and the politics surrounding it.

This movie was an attempt to portray actual events, but it fictionalized the story and the locales so much that it detracts from the movie. In addition is what I perceive as the pro-nationalist slant of the script.

All in all, the movie presents great examples of early work by Andy Garcia, Lou Diamond Phillips, Kevin Spacey and also has Robert Duvall.

If you can stand the inaccuracies, watch it for the cast of then future stars, and for Robert Duvall in a solid supporting role.