A taxi driver with a penchant for conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of these theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it ... Read allA taxi driver with a penchant for conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of these theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.A taxi driver with a penchant for conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of these theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.
- Awards
- 4 wins & 1 nomination
- Wilson
- (as Stephen Kahan)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to an interview with director Richard Donner on the DVD of Payback: Straight Up Director's Cut (2006) that he met screenwriter Brian Helgeland when he was driving at the Warner Brothers gate, and saw Brian holding a sign that said "Will write for work, for money". Richard got out of the car and asked him about the sign, Brian replied that he was a screenwriter, and was looking for work. Donner had decided to give Helgeland a chance, which led to the two of them working on this movie. Helgeland also worked with Donner on Assassins (1995).
- GoofsWhen the shock troops rappel down from the black helicopter they can be seen to land on soft mats rather than hard New York City pavement.
- Quotes
Jerry: David Berkowitz, Ted Bundy, Richard Speck...
Alice: What about them?
Jerry: Serial killers. Serial killers only have two names. You ever notice that? But lone gunmen assassins, they always have three names. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, Mark David Chapman...
Alice: John Hinckley. He shot Reagan. He only has two names.
Jerry: Yeah, but he only just shot Reagan. Reagan didn't die. If Reagan had died, I'm pretty sure we probably would all know what John Hinckley's middle name was.
- Crazy creditsThe initial Warner Bros. logo with the clouds behind is shown - the camera then pulls back to show the logo as a billboard on the side of a bus.
- SoundtracksCan't Take My Eyes Off You
Written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio
Performed by Frankie Valli
Courtesy of The Four Seasons Partnership
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
Jerry Fletcher is a New York taxi driver and dedicated conspiracy theorist. He can think of conspiracy theories for anything, and constantly talks to his passengers about them. He even writes his theories in his own newsletter, which is sent to only five different people in the mail. The taxi driver has a crush on Alice Sutton, and woman who works for the Justice Department and whose father was murdered, but she doesn't know about Fletcher's feelings towards her. One day, after he is kicked out of Alice's office, he is soon captured by a group of CIA agents and finds himself in a mysterious place where he is tortured by a CIA doctor named Dr. Jonas! This sends Jerry into a fit of insanity, and after he bites the doctor's nose, severely injuring him, he manages to escape from the building. It turns out that at least one of the New York taxi driver's many conspiracy theories appears to be true, but he can't tell which one it is!
The beginning shows the main character ranting to various passengers in his cab about his conspiracy theories, and this is a fairly shaky beginning. Soon after that, there's a flashy sequence showing Jerry's frightening memories, and I found this part to be a little rushed and unfocused. A lot of the film can probably be described that way. That part is followed by a cheesy and overlong scene with the taxi driver watching his love interest through her window, singing on her treadmill. Despite all this, it still looks like it's going to be at least a fairly decent thriller around the beginning and it is at times, but it's not consistent enough. The early torture scene didn't do much for me, and it even features frightening memories of Jerry's flashing before his eyes again, with the same problems as the first time this happens. Another thing that doesn't help is that Jerry's constant conspiracy theories can get tiring. Fortunately, there are definitely some good thrills and action, and Mel Gibson puts on an impressive performance as Jerry Fletcher, though his character here is no match for the likable Martin Riggs in the "Lethal Weapon" series. Julia Roberts as Alice Sutton and Patrick Stewart (another actor I've been familiar with for a long time) as Dr. Jonas are also memorable cast highlights.
At 135 minutes, this 1997 thriller is a fairly long movie, and later in the film, it didn't seem as flawed to me as it did for a long time before then. It might improve after a while, and Gibson's character might eventually get easier to sympathize with. I may have been worn out during the second half or so, and get the feeling I could have gotten just a BIT more out of the film (at least closer to the end) if I'd had a bit more energy. For that reason, I feel I could almost give it a 7/10 instead of a 6. On the other hand, I don't think having a high energy level would have hidden this movie's severe flaws from me, flaws which make "Conspiracy Theory" somewhat disappointing. Even if it does improve along the way, I would say it definitely takes quite a while to do so. This movie is by no means horrible, and could be entertaining if you like a good romantic thriller and are old enough to see the violence here, but it still didn't meet my expectations.
- Beta_Gallinger
- Feb 17, 2010
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Complot mortel
- Filming locations
- Orpheum Theater - 842 South Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA(Movie Theater into which Jerry Fletcher goes to hide.)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $75,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $75,982,834
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $19,313,566
- Aug 10, 1997
- Gross worldwide
- $136,982,834
- Runtime2 hours 15 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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