Conspiracy Theory (1997)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Richard Donner

Writer (WGA):

Brian Helgeland (written by)

Release Date:

8 August 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

What you know could kill you.

Plot:

Jerry Fletcher is a man who sees conspiracies everywhere. But if you keep doing that long enough, sooner or later you're going to get one right...

Plot Keywords:

Conspiracy | Newsletter | Defense | Reference To Richard Speck | Lasersight

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Mel Gibson	...	Jerry Fletcher
Julia Roberts	...	Alice Sutton
Patrick Stewart	...	Dr. Jonas
Cylk Cozart	...	Agent Lowry
Steve Kahan	...	Mr. Wilson (as Stephen Kahan)
Terry Alexander	...	Flip
Alex McArthur	...	Cynic
Rod McLachlan	...	Justice Guard
Michael Potts	...	Justice Guard
Jim Sterling	...	Justice Guard
Rich Hebert	...	Public Works Man
Brian J. Williams	...	Clarke
G.A. Aguilar	...	Piper
Cece Neber Labao	...	Henry Finch's Secretary
Saxon Trainor	...	Alice's Secretary

Also Known As:

Fletchers Visionen (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Теория заговора (Russia) [ru]
Complot mortel (Canada: French title) [fr]
Complots (France) [fr]
Conspiración (Conspiracy Theory) (Spain) [es]
El complot (Argentina) [es]
Farlige teorier (Denmark) (video title) [da]
Ipotesi di complotto (Italy) [it]
Komplo teorisi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Salaliittoteoria (Finland) [fi]
Sammansvärjningen (Sweden) [sv]
Teoria conspiratiei (Romania) [ro]
Teoria da Conspiração (Portugal) [pt]
Teoria spisku (Poland) [pl]
Teorija zarote (Slovenia) [sl]
Teorija zavere (Serbia) [sr]
Theories synomosias (Greece) [el]
Vandenõuteooria (Estonia) [et]

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #35450) | Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Manitoba) | Philippines:PG-13 | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:14 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Australia:M (original rating) | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 (w) | Italy:T | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

According to an interview with Director Richard Donner on the DVD of Payback: Straight Up-Director's Cut (2006) that he met writer Brian Helgeland when he was driving at the Warner Bros. Gate and saw Brian holding a sign that said "Will Write For Work, For Money". Richard got out of the car and ask him about the sign, Brain replied that he was screenwriter and was looking for work. Donner had decided to give a chance which led the two of them working on this film. Brian also worked on Assassins (1995) with Donner.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Jerry escapes from the hospital, he waits inside Alice's car. He tells her to leave right away and when she does there is a reflection of a few crew members, especially the boom operator.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jerry Fletcher: July eighth, 1979, all the fathers of Nobel Prize winners were rounded up by United Nations military units, all right, and actually forced at gunpoint to give semen samples in little plastic jars, which are now stored below Rockefeller Center underneath the ice skating rink...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: Conspiracy Theory (#4.6)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

A Surprisingly Good Film

Let me say immediately that I would recommend this film to almost anyone but the most literal-minded. This film will be different things to different people. It can be a macho thriller, a subtle romance, an ironic look at ourselves, or a combination of all these things. The great thing about this movie is not so much the plot, but the individual situations and scenes. What is meant to be portrayed as paranoid behaviour by Mel Gibson's character, Jerry Fletcher, becomes quite funny when the viewer recognizes his or her own self doing similar things, but in a context that is supposedly "normal." Jerry's having a padlock on his refrigerator and a combination lock on his coffee will bring a smile to the lips of anyone who has to deal with numerous computer "logons" and passwords to gain access to even the most mundane things in our computer-dominated workplaces. Likewise, the writers and director are spot on when they show poor paranoid Jerry going to separate mailboxes to post his various letters, while many of us here in the on-line world will routinely use pseudonyms, proxies, remailers, etc for the very same reason that Jerry takes his seemingly abnormal precautions, i.e., to avoid potentially prying eyes. So, who's paranoid? I thought this was very insightful. As for overt humour, perhaps my guard was down, but I laughed until tears came to my eyes when Jerry tossed off joke about a man who had only three minutes to live. Mel Gibson's delivery of the punch line was perfect. As for pathos and those human moments, scenes in which Jerry would gladly die for just a brushing kiss from his worshipped Julia Roberts might bring back memories of anyone's naive, tender years and momentarily make your heart ache. And a scene in which Jerry is unable to explain why he compulsively buys copies of the same book over and over again is very poignant, indeed. Mel Gibson put a lot of energy into what was obviously a demanding role and, as usual, Julia Roberts lights up the screen in every scene she's in. The film might be a fantasy, but it's the sort of fantasy many of us can appreciate.