Chameleon

Years after he had a breakdown as a result of his wife and kid being murdered by mob hit-man Cortessi, undercover agent Willie Sterling is back on the job. With a leak in the department and leads taking him nowhere, Matt Gianni approaches colleague Stuart Langston to get Sterling to go back undercover to trace drugs money from the cocaine business in a jail, through a crooked bank up all the way to the head of the snake. However Gianni becomes increasingly worried about Sterling losing himself in his multiple identities.

I saw this film a few years ago but never reviewed it at the time, so I decided to watch it again to refresh my opinion. The plot is an average undercover story with a revenge element thrown in for good measure. Once this has been going for a while it also throws in CIA conspiracy, mental breakdown and a romance subplot into the mix. Suffice to say that what comes out is a very strange beast indeed. As a result the story becomes messy quite quickly and is very unlikely from start to finish – a finish that you will be able to predict about an hour before it occurs as well. However what makes the material better than it is, is a couple of good performances, mostly from the lead actor.

You can see why LaPaglia signed for this – he must have seen the clichéd script but seen the chance to show off his ability. While he is good, the script damages his impact and I have seen him do better work – maybe this could serve as his promo reel? On top of his good performance keeping me watching I also though Pollack was quirky and enjoyable (and benefited from not taking the film too seriously at any point). They may not add much more than recognisable faces but the cast also includes Knight, Hardin and Romano, not to mention a superb F. Abraham Murray impression by Amendola.

Overall this is an average film at best, but mostly it is a poor one. The plot, script and characters are pretty nondescript and the film doesn't really do anything with any of the threads that it hints at. Luckily LaPaglia seems to be enjoying himself and it's almost worth seeing for an actor trying to make the best of his part in a poor film.

I really don't get the low rating of this, it's a pretty good movie in which Anthony La Paglia plays an undercover agent whom assumes the identity of many persona's (hence the title '' The chameleon'' ) yrs after his wife is murdered by a mob Hitman, we also get to see the mental effect that this takes on him over extended periods of time of him playing these characters in his desperation to track this hitman down.

May not be the ground breaking but one of if not may favourite 90's thrillers in which is hugely boosted by La Paglia & Co's performances.

This film is acceptable as a 'B' feature thriller movie. Unfortunately the script, though witty in parts, needs attention - e.g. over use of 'deus ex machina' devices. The direction is generally unimaginative and at times clichéd - i.e. in the 'third act' the bad guy is seen getting out of his car camera angled from feet upwards. This is a well-worn tired technique aimed at instilling a sense of foreboding, it no longer works and hasn't for many years now. The premise of the story however is interesting and as usual Mr LaPaglia is a joy to watch though as a Brit I would question his English accent. As the character of Will Serling relaxes into his English role-playing the accent I have to admit does greatly improve. Perhaps this was intentional. I suspect that this film was never anything more than a potboiler for all those taking part. Any LaPaglia fan will certainly enjoy it to a fair degree, but don't expect anything wonderful. Of a similar period in his career I would rather point eager LaPaglia fans towards the low-budget film 'Killer' - this film, I believe, will more than satisfy them in all they desire to see of the aforesaid wonderful actor.

I am always surprised by the low rating of this movie whenever I visit this page on IMDb. I remember watching this film as a kid and being blown away by the premiss and the acting. Sure the film feels very 90s and the production value is generally thin, but bearing in mind the very decent make-up jobs, and action thriller feel mixed with espionage and psychosis, you are left with a very decent and enjoyable movie that has something for everyone.

I was unaware of Anthony LaPaglia before this movie, and while most people probably know him for his more successful recent works, such as "Fraiser", "Without a Trace", and film Analyze That, his lesser known works are probably his best performances.

Chameleon, for me shows off his acting talents best. His ability to mimic voices is very satisfying and while the make-up is very important factor in his characters, he really makes each character his own. Some might find similarities with this movie and The Saint (the film more so than the TV series) as both have an element of lost identity, but this film, while approaching it from a not too subtle and very 90s drama viewpoint, really gets the slipping of identity and overlapping of mannerisms.

I recommend this film to anyone that likes thrillers, for me this really epitomizes the psychological thriller for it's era (I would say for it's decade but Fight Club squeezed into the 90s with it's 1999 release).

I was very lucky to be able to re-watch this film today, and to anyone lucky enough to be able to get a-hold of it, watch it.

Anthony LaPaglia really shows off his acting abilities. He portrayed the character from every angle of emotion. I was on the edge of my seat in suspense as to what would take place next. This is definitely a movie where you have to keep your attention on the movie to enjoy every minute of it. I had wanted more even after the movie was over. I really wish they would consider a DVD release as this was one of his great films. This is on my top 10 list of movies. I recommend that you see this movie to see what one mans determination can do. I became a Anthony LaPaglia fan back when I saw his "Innocent Blood" a cute horror/comedy. I really enjoy his newer TV series "Without a Trace".