A woman becomes entangled in the conspiracy of two world governments to assassinate an international leader in New York.A woman becomes entangled in the conspiracy of two world governments to assassinate an international leader in New York.A woman becomes entangled in the conspiracy of two world governments to assassinate an international leader in New York.
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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.
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.)
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.)
Other reviewers have described the content of this film, so I won't repeat. Instead, I'll hold forth on a pet peeve about movies. Which is - the liberties taken with bird content in movies. To wit: The film is named "Caracara", but the bird used in the film is a Harris's Hawk. There are nine species of Caracara in the world. They're all found in Central and South America. One of the nine occurs far enough north to be found in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Did they think that none of the 70 million birdwatchers in the US (according to the "National Survey on Recreation and the Environment" conducted periodically by the US Forest Service, most recently released in 2002) would notice?
One of the other comments on this film included: "Hence the title, referring to the species of Peregrine falcon she keeps as a pet". First, a Peregrine Falcon is a species itself; there are not species thereof. Second, although the Caracaras are members of the Falcon family, the bird used in this film is not a Falcon of any kind - Caracara, Peregrine or otherwise.
This is a low budget film, but this is not an expensive item to research. I suppose they liked the name "Caracara", which is rather more exotic than "Harris's Hawk". So, when it turned out that no Caracara could be found to appear in the film, they simply substituted something else, and kept the cool name. And they figured it didn't matter if they got it "right", because the audience wouldn't notice. Considering the comment quoted above, perhaps they are right. But, considering the kind of obsessive attention to detail found in many other aspects of filmmaking, it is baffling why so many films consistently goof up bird-related content. (The sound people are especially culpable in this regard.)
One of the other comments on this film included: "Hence the title, referring to the species of Peregrine falcon she keeps as a pet". First, a Peregrine Falcon is a species itself; there are not species thereof. Second, although the Caracaras are members of the Falcon family, the bird used in this film is not a Falcon of any kind - Caracara, Peregrine or otherwise.
This is a low budget film, but this is not an expensive item to research. I suppose they liked the name "Caracara", which is rather more exotic than "Harris's Hawk". So, when it turned out that no Caracara could be found to appear in the film, they simply substituted something else, and kept the cool name. And they figured it didn't matter if they got it "right", because the audience wouldn't notice. Considering the comment quoted above, perhaps they are right. But, considering the kind of obsessive attention to detail found in many other aspects of filmmaking, it is baffling why so many films consistently goof up bird-related content. (The sound people are especially culpable in this regard.)
outstanding,superb,excellent ..these words don't even begin to describe this movie . despite its gigantic constraints like only a 500,000 dollars budget the director does one perfect job in putting the pieces together . beautifully scripted and flawlessly directed ,the impeccable performance of Natasha Henstridge elevates the movie from some mediocre moments . There is no weak link in the plot as such and Natasha Henstridge gives an impressive performance as the damsel in distress .If someone asks me to describe the movie in 2 words ,i would say simply amazing . Natasha clearly deserves accolades for her performance and i hope she continue to do these offbeat roles. She emerges as an amazing actress with an ability to display plethora of emotions with effortless ease. One of the best t.v. thrillers i saw it in a long time .Natasha sure deserves an award for this
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.
Did you know
- TriviaAll entries contain spoilers
- GoofsWhile sitting in the van's driver's seat after escaping from Rachel's mother's house, we hear a handgun being cocked, but when we see the pistol it isn't cocked.
Details
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Celle qui en savait trop (1999) officially released in Canada in English?
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