Review: The Conspirator

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One man did not kill Abe Lincoln.
Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) is a war veteran and a lawyer that's tasked with defending Mary Surratt, (Robin Penn) the lone woman amongst seven men charged with planning the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. As the trial goes on Fredrick begins to believe his client's innocence, and feels she's being used as a decoy.
The Conspirator has strong performances from McAvoy, Penn, and Evan Rachel Wood who plays Mary's daughter, Anna. The plot was interesting, but I felt that it dragged at points and became a little hard to pay attention too when it was moving so slowly. That's typical Robert Redford though. All of his movies feel longer than they really are. (With the exception of Quiz Show, which was fantastic.) I feel like he didn't quite get his message across. Similar to what happened with Lions for Lambs. Great cast, interesting plot on paper, but not the best transition to the screen.

Recommended: No

Grade: C

Memorable Quote: "You were infatuated with Boothe." - Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy)

Comments

  1. Candice FrederickSeptember 4, 2011 at 5:33 PM

    darn. the trailer looks so good. i'm not much of a fan of period films, bu7t i do normally love macavoy. hate a film that drags though, especially period films.

    ReplyDelete

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