The Freak's Rating: D : Don't you just hate when potential can be too much for a film to overcome? Never has it been more the case than here, in The Conspirator. Immediately following any film based on a historical event, I consistently revisit any educational materials I may have on tap (not very difficult since the Internet is filled with resources) and educate myself on what REALLY happened prior to judging a film's adaptation. I attempt to compare apples to apples, not going off the deep end to say that the film wasn't accurate but rather to judge the writing and directing on merit of integrating historical fact into a film. The Conspirator fails on an astronomical level, since at its heart the ideas of corruption, mistrials and vengeful prosecution could lend themselves to a phenomenal motion picture.
James McAvoy continues to be an inconsistent force in Hollywood, one moment sending out wildly entertaining fare such as Wanted, the next sending abismal period pieces like Atonement. I would guess the director, Robert Redford, received precisely what he wanted from all performances in the film. Tom Wilkinson continues to be awesome in everything he does and even Robin Wright is decent as the female lead of the picture. The actors have enough talent to convey the vision of the director as they are instructed, it is just a poor vision.
There is horrible direction here, a sincere dissappointment for this filmgoer. Some scenes are orchestrated with beautiful cinematography and others are framed poorly and jump back and forth with little consistency, a failed attempt by Redford on many levels. Writing and directing of a historical piece are judged on their integration of the historical accuracies into a screenplay and in this case there is misfire after misfire. Characters are not developed well and we are left not caring who dies, when and how. When researching what really happened, I read that the last few moments (SPOILER alert to anyone who is unfamiliar with the story of Mary Surratt) of Mary's life contained many notable times of truly heartbreaking words from her mouth and those of the prisoners around her. I read of the pain and complete depression Mary went through in jail and how inaccurate it was interpretted here. As an Illinoisan born and raised, my interest in all things Abraham Lincoln is instilled from birth. This film has elements of brilliance but ultimately will go down as a failure in filmmaking and a disservice to the story of America's first executed woman.
