Target

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.

I'm a sucker for espionage movies filmed on location in Europe, so I was positively inclined toward this film, which I had never heard of before it cropped up on cable this week. I'm not sure how I missed it back in 1985, because I'm a Hackman fan and usually like movies of this type.

This is an OK film, but not a great one. The locations are superb, and there are enough car chases to keep guys like me happy. The basic idea of the film (family of man with secret past must pay for his actions) is all right, too, but it plays out in a rather clunky way. (The story, by the way, was written by Leonard Stern, the executive producer of the GET SMART TV show, and the co-inventor of "Mad Libs".)

Hackman is the best part of the picture. Josef Sommer is also good, but is basically playing the same role he played in WITNESS (also in 1985). He could phone in a part like this. What drags this movie down is the thoroughly annoying Matt Dillon subplot. I'm not sure if it's just Dillon the actor that bothers me, or his character. The screenwriters try to turn this film into a family drama, where the father is reconciled to his son while they search for the kidnapped mother. But the son is SO stupid and annoying, that if I were Gene Hackman, I'd let the KGB put Dillon in a cement overcoat and toss him in the Baltic. IMHO, this would have been a better film with Hackman searching by himself (along with his former lover, perhaps, who is a more interesting character than Dillon).

The closing climactic scene drags on WAY too long. The tension is gone long before it's over, and the fade-out shot of the cuddly family is trite. (If you think about it, they're still in a LOT of trouble at that point, probably more than an hour before!) A much better film with a similar plot (and good locations) is the Harrison Ford vehicle FRANTIC. For spy fans, TARGET is worth watching once, but won't bear repeating.

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.

I'm a huge Gene Hackman fan and I remembered seeing this film many years ago and thinking it was quite cool, and when I saw the title in the paper again, I thought I would find out how right I was.

Well Hackman is once again excellent. He has such a natural and believable way about him in his roles that I find it hard not to be drawn into his character. He's definitely one of those actors who always plays himself, but it doesn't matter as his ability and style just carry it off without a thought. A truly great actor in my mind.

Matt Dillon is also very good, although his younger trademark look of startled deer is ever present.

The plot itself is a good one, in that Hackman plays Dillons father, a boring and very dull man with an equally dull job, in his sons eyes anyway. What quickly transpires is that he is not the speed limit sticking man that his son first thought, he is actually a ex CIA agent.

This change is done very well, with a short set piece in an airport. With the smallest of physical changes, Hackman flips from average father to confident and action ready agent. You can see it in his manner, and it shows his excellent capability as an actor.

The rest of the movie reveals the story as father and son are pulled deeper and deeper into his life, revealing the true extent of his agent activities. His son quickly realises that this is not the father he knew, and quickly grows from off-handedness to total rejection and then to acceptance again.

It is an interesting movie, and the plot is quite good with some interesting action sequences. Where it fails are some of the other actors and the hectic pace of the movie, it seems as though either in filming or editing that crucial parts of the movie have been missed or removed.

Big shame, but it is still good to watch for a Sunday afternoon movie. I think this may kick off my <i>watch every Gene Hackman movie</i> campaign.

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!