Review

Review Date: 17-April-11
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Just OK

The Conspirator (2011)

Robert Redford's historical drama The Conspirator frustrates on more than one level. The story, which might be true based on what evidence remains from the 1860s, is a nasty reminder that justice is subject to the whims and passions of mankind. This is so in any society or age, including America following Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The military has gunned down killer John Wilkes Booth and rounded up his accomplices with the intention of executing them. This will quell frightened citizens' nerves and send a message to other Southerners who resent defeat in the war. One of the accused is a woman, Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), who ran the boarding house where the conspirators hatched their plans. The state wants her blood largely because her implicated son hasn't been caught and the family needs to pay. She and the others are tried in a military court, even though they're civilians, with a foregone conclusion and no concern for their Constitutional rights. If the movie accurately reflects what happened, it's a frightening example of the unreliability of law.

While there's validity to the idea of exposing injustices so as to keep people alert to their danger, Redford's presentation of Surratt's story is so heavy-handed one is likely to choke on the pill. (Of course the message calls to mind more recent events which also illustrate the American government's preference for vengeance over legality.) As the titular victim, Wright's grim, handsome face radiates martyrdom (the black veil and rosary beads help) without giving an inkling of the woman herself. She might get away with being a symbol; however, the movie needs more from the main character, defense attorney and patriotic veteran Frederick Aiken. It is gratifying finally to see James McAvoy in a role that doesn't require him to stand behind another actor, and his steely blue gaze makes an impact as Aiken warms to his thankless task. Yet, notwithstanding a few scenes showing how the case ruins his love life, Aiken is a one-dimensional instrument of his cause. So too is the villain of the piece, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (Kevin Kline), who pulls all the strings in the conspirators' trial and believes in the protection of national security by any means. Screenwriter James D. Solomon may have captured the idiom of the time but he failed to make the characters' words and thoughts their own; several times I knew what someone was about to say just before they said it, because the dialogue had obviously led up to a spurt of generic moviespeak.

The overall impression of The Conspirator reminded me of Valkyrie (2008), which, incidentally, also featured Tom Wilkinson in an elder statesman role. That movie detailed a historical event that was significant and uplifting, but not particularly interesting in the telling. The Conspirator is at a greater disadvantage in that it details a historical event that was significant and depressing, and is related without mitigating finesse.

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