In Subtlety Lies Strength
Rating: 10 of 10 
A poker game. That's what this is about: A poker game whose players are lawyers, whose cards are the law, the evidence and means of manipulation, and whose bets are the victims and lots of money. The stakes are high, and at the surface inaction is more prevalent than action. That's why this movie is not at all an action movie, that's why everything seems to flow just in a strange and even motionless way. It's a civil action portrayed, and the people who have criticized this movie for it's lack of obvious action should take that into account much more thoroughly. It's not a police story, it's lawyers against lawyers against money.
John Travolta is brilliant in this piece, he just is a great actor. Robert Duvall was said to be even better in this one, well, he's great too, but I like Travolta's performance much better. The story itself, modelled after a real case, follows different rules because of this relation to reality. Therefore the ending is not what one might suspect; but it is something perhaps very much typical for the legal system. Not every move is obvious, the most important decisions are made on a much more hidden level, in a much subtler way. Subtlety - that's a key element of this movie. It also has some really humorous scenes in it, plus superb visuals. The best scene is Travolta in his car reliving the death of a child.
According to the general subtlety of the movie, the music of Danny Elfman is subtle too, although a bit too subtle for my taste. Also, I have some problems with making a movie after living persons, with those persons still alive. That's a bit too much of hero worship. But it still is a great story, and an outstanding movie.
April 26th, 1999
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