Caracara

The first half of Caracara is really quite terrific, slowly building suspense and carefully establishing character before a thrilling mid-point climax in which Henstridge thwarts the assassin's master plan. What follows is pretty generic stuff: the assassin goes off to silence all witnesses and our game leading lady races against time to catch him.

What absolutely distinguishes this fun rental is Natasha Henstridge. She's not only gorgeous and totally winning but an increasingly capable actress. If only she'd be more discerning when it comes to picking roles. The Whole Nine Yards and Ghosts of Mars are understandable choices as they offered her some exposure, but parts in Second Skin and A Better Way to Die are disastrous.

Henstridge is still quite young and has a good decade of leading roles ahead. Hopefully the films will improve -- she deserves better.

After enjoying Schaech in "welcome to Woop Woop" I have been looking for his other work. Last night I saw "Caracara", which is the first time I saw him as the "bad guy". He gave a great performance - I think he is one of the up and coming great actors of this time (2001). I will look forward to seeing him in future movies. The other actors/actresses gave solid performances, and I was on the edge of my seat until the end of the film. It isn't the best movie I ever saw, but all in all, a good way to spend a couple of hours. There is a LOT of killing in this movie, though - I wouldn't recommend this for younger audiences.

Natasha (post-SPECIES) and Jonathon (post-THAT THING YOU DO!) star as an unsuspecting ornithologist and a South African assassin, respectively. She's into birds of prey, and he is one in a manner of speaking. (Hence the title, referring to the species of Peregrine falcon she keeps as a pet, not to mention the unconsummated petting she does with him before he tries to eliminate her.)

I suspect that this is one of those shelved movies that was done well before either one of them became famous, and like any movie of that ilk, it's worth a watch if only to see how the producers try (and don't necessarily succeed) to pass off Toronto and/or Vancouver for NYC.

Natasha looks great, she manages to keep a straight face through the laughable script, (something about an assassination plot against Nelson Mandela and genocide; that's about as coherent as it gets.) The real fun is getting to see her play scenes with Lauren Hutton, who gets to do some over-the-top emoting as Natasha's "nympho-alcoholic-aging hippie" mom.

The irony of watching two former models, one in the twilight of her career and the other just starting hers won't be lost on movie buffs, and director Clifford does keep things moving along quickly enough so that boredom doesn't set in. A good rent on one of those "rent-one-get-one-free" nights when all the copies of LAKE PLACID or DEEP BLUE SEA are already gone.

Those who love Robin Cook/Harold Robbins/Jackie Collins-style potboilers will want to seek this one out, but don't look for a lot of sex amidst the violence, though you do get a titillatingly brief flash of T&A. (For MUCH more from Natasha, you'll have to re-rent SPECIES or SPECIES 2.)

Natasha Henstridge has never been better. She can really act and looks great. Great story full of surprises. Fun seeing Lauren Hutton again. She was terrific. Very well directed by Graeme Clifford (Frances). Highly recommended.

This movie is for all the bird lovers out there. Caracara is one great thriller about murder and mayhem, and it has the bird for the title. I think with the title like Caracara, it would show what the bird looked like, and it did. Natasha Henstrdge plays Rachel Sutherland, a woman who get caught in a conspiracy of an assassination that leads into complete craziness. She owns the beautiful bird, and she always let herself be taken advantage of. The assassin is very cunning, and he would be in disguise to make his move on the unfortunate victim. One big giveaway in the movie is when he forgets to remove his contact from the last disguise. How forgetful can you get? That can impair your sharpshooting ability. The sex, the violence, and all the intrigue is all there in the movie, and I enjoyed it very much. Very subtle, yet very enjoyable at the same time. Rating 3 out of 5 stars.