Power (1986)

After a close friend drops out of politics, a political consultant helping to find a replacement finds a web of corruption and deceit as well.

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writer:

David Himmelstein

Stars:

Richard Gere, Julie Christie, Gene Hackman

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Gere	...	Pete St. John
Julie Christie	...	Ellen Freeman
Gene Hackman	...	Wilfred Buckley
Kate Capshaw	...	Sydney Betterman
Denzel Washington	...	Arnold Billings
E.G. Marshall	...	Senator Sam Hastings
Beatrice Straight	...	Claire Hastings
Fritz Weaver	...	Wallace Furman
Michael Learned	...	Governor Andrea Stannard
J.T. Walsh	...	Jerome Cade
E. Katherine Kerr	...	Irene Furman
Polly Rowles	...	Lucille DeWitt
Matt Salinger	...	Phillip Aarons
Tom Mardirosian	...	Sheikh
Omar Torres	...	Roberto Cepeda

Storyline

Pete St. John is a powerful and successful political consultant, with clients spread around the country. When his long-time friend and client, Ohio senator Sam Hastings, decides to quit politics, he is rapidly drafted to help with the campaign of the man destined to succeed him, unknown and mysterious businessman Jerome Cade. In parallel, and unaware of the potential dangers, he proceeds to unravel the mystery surrounding Hastings dropping out, with the aide of his ex-wife, a prominent Washington-based journalist. But interests more powerful than local arm wrestling are at stake, and things start going awry.

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Plot Keywords:

politician | cover up | conspiracy | political corruption | corruption | 

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Taglines:

More seductive than sex... More addictive than any drug... More precious than gold. And one man can get it for you. For a price.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Yiddish

Release Date:

31 January 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Moc

Filming Locations:

Armonk, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,854,200, 2 February 1986, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$3,800,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lorimar Productions, Polar Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film cast includes four Oscar winners: Denzel Washington, Julie Christie, Beatrice Straight, and Gene Hackman.

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Goofs

The character portrayed by Denzel Washington has the surname Billings. In the end credits, the character's surname is spelled Billing.

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Quotes

Claire Hastings: [to Ellen, who is about to write an hurtful article about the Hastings] When you'll write this, make sure I'm the monster!

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Connections

Referenced in Knots Landing: The Inside Man (1986)

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Soundtracks

The Stars and Stripes Forever
Written by John Philip Sousa
Performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra (as The Boston Pops)
Conducted by Arthur Fiedler
Polygram Special Projects
A division of Polygram Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Good movie, about political image-makers, but ... so what??

Perhaps this film would have hit me harder in 1986, but now, with so many movies and so much news reporting about the inner workings of politics and image-makers, I watched it on DVD (loaned by Ron and Evelyn) and came away thinking, "so what?" There really isn't anything new or Earth-shaking. Gere is good as the hot-shot political consultant who gets high dollars to get candidates elected to offices at various levels all over the USA and even Central and South America. He tells them, "do what I tell you and after you get into office, you can do whatever you want." I got the feeling that the movie is very authentic but has no great impact when it was over. The critic Ebert has a very fair and complete review. It's median IMDb vote of '6' is about right.