Conspiracy Theory

[1997, Movie]

Conspiracy Theory: Review

<I>Folie a deux</I>: Julia Roberts and Mel Gibson

Not a terrible movie exactly, just a dark, edgy idea relentlessly worn down into mildly diverting blandness by the mega-wattage presence of stars Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts. Jerry Fletcher (Gibson) is a nutty NYC cab driver, the kind whose motormouth rants about the New World Order, fluoridated water and top-secret caches of Nobel Prize-winning sperm stashed under the Rockefeller Center ice-skating rink can turn a 12-block ride into an endurance test. His newest theory: They -- you know, "they" -- are going to assassinate the president by engineering an earthquake during a state visit to Turkey. Alice Sutton (Roberts) is a junior DA haunted by the murder of her father and bedeviled by Jerry, with whom she puts up because he once saved her from muggers. But just because he's paranoid... Before you can say "ZOG," Jerry's been kidnapped by the mysterious Dr. Jonas (Patrick Stewart) and his men in black. The good news: Dr. Jonas believes Jerry. The bad news: He's a sadistic creep with his own evil agenda. Before it's all over, Alice has tumbled down the rabbit hole and emerged into a world in which the CIA, FBI and a slew of other initials really are behind all sorts of bizarre plots and counterplots, and wacko Jerry is the answer man. There's a great movie in here somewhere, but it's not about Gibson's Jerry, a lovable loser with puppy-dog eyes. How could Alice ever actually worry that he's been watching her every move? Imagine someone potentially scary in the role -- James Woods, say -- and a whole other picture slides into focus. Perhaps it's all meant to be a tongue-in-cheek lark, but in that case MEN IN BLACK is the far larkier romp through conspiratorial looniness. --Maitland McDonagh