An average movie

I already saw this movie but, since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. Back in the 90’s, way before he became the king of the box-office (a status he already lost by now), I used to be a huge fan of Johnny Depp and I was eagerly watching all his movies. To be honest, not everything Johnny Depp did at the time was really amazing and this movie was probably one of the most obscure he made in his career. Well, to be honest, after rewatching it, I didn’t think it was so bad at all after all. Indeed, it was basically some kind of mix of a classic Hitchcockian thriller with a classic 90’s thriller and I think the concept definitely had some potential. The setup was pretty basic and efficient and, right from the start, even though I knew the main character would definitely not go through with this assassination, I was really wondering how he would get out of this and manage to save also his little girl. It was also pretty cool how seemingly everybody seemed to be involved in this conspiracy making his predicament even more precarious. Unfortunately, even though John Badham was not a bad director (I did like the intro during which the little girl was watching some hobos from the train she was in, it was intriguing), I’m afraid he was no Alfred Hitchcock though and the whole thing did feel rather flat and generic after all. Another issue was Johnny Depp’s performance. Indeed, he had built a career first with some quirky and odd characters and, later on, with some really excentric weirdos often with some over-the-top costumes and make-up but, this time, he was playing the most average square guy you could possibly imagine. Well, even though it was actually nice to see Johnny Depp playing against-type for once, unfortunately, he didn’t really nail it though. I mean, there were some scenes during which he was sweating profusely but, to be honest, it never really went much further than that and I wish I could really feel the sense of panic the guy must have felt in this situation. At least, it was refreshing that he didn’t become some kind of John McClane/Jason Bourne/Bryan Mills type of guy at some point (the way he did kill/execute Christopher Walken’s character at the end did feel excessive and it was a rather misguided choice in my opinion). Contrary to Depp’s rather awkward and unconvincing performance, Christopher Walken was pitch-perfect here and he found the right tone pretty much right off the bat. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing amazing whatsoever, I think it was still a decent thriller with a solid concept and it is worth a look.