Yes, another movie.
Nay, far be it from me to review literally every moving picture I
witness, as a matter of principle.
Indeed, just days before I witnessed a decidedly mediocre film, “Stay Hungry”,
whose sole distinction is simply a remarkable collection of actors,
to-wit: Arnold Schwarzenegger, basically
playing himself, Jeff Bridges, in an early role of his, Sally Field, a year
before accompanying Burt Reynolds in a black Trans Am across the southern
highways pursued by a vengeful would-be father-in-law, and the infamous Freddie
Kruger himself, Robert Englund, minus his fingernails, striped sweater, fedora,
or nightmare body count.
Nay, this film is far more impressive and far more worthy of
my description and my valued readers’ attention: “The Conspirator”, a 2010 film directed by
none other than the Sundance Kid & Bob Woodward himself, Robert Redford. It concerns the trial of Mary Suratt, the mother
of John Suratt, one of the (alleged) co-conspirators along with John Wilkes Booth, in the
plot to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln in April 1865.
The Young Professor Xavier, James McAvoy, plays Frederick
Aiken, an attorney who up to recently had been a Union officer in the just-completed
Civil War. He’s assigned the task of
defending Mary Suratt by Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson), Mary herself played
by Claire Underwood, aka Robin Wright – who also accompanied Forrest Gump (mom
played by Sally Field, mentioned above) and acted as the Princess Bride, some
centuries ago in a galaxy far, far away.
As it was, Booth himself was killed in the process of
capture, and three of his male co-conspirators were caught, including one
played by Norman Reedus, who we might recognize from “The Boondock Saints” and “Walking
Dead”. Justice demands not merely that
these men hang from the gallows, but surely Mary herself must do so as
well. Her daughter Anna, played by Evan
Rachel Wood – who we’ve seen as Dolores in “Westworld” – debates defending her mother or
her brother, which appears to be mutually exclusive.
Milton, from “Office Space” (Stephen Root), acts here as a
deceitful tavern owner induced by the prosecutor – Danny Huston, who recruited
Logan (Wolverine) and faced off against Wonder Woman as Ludendorff, albeit
without a mustache – to give false testimony.
Aiken’s war buddies are played by James Badge Dale – in one of the Iron
Man films – and Justin Long, who hasn’t hawked Apple computers in some time. The war tribunal includes Colm Meaney, likewise
far away from ST/NG.
But never mind the cast.
The story itself is compelling in its own right. Aiken, once he’s assured himself that John,
not Mary, is the one who should be on trial, sets to acquit the woman, to the
best of his ability. He manages to damage
the credibility of some of the prosecution witnesses and persuades the sister to return from
Westworld to defend her mother. This
convinces the tribunal, all Union officers who were heretofore committed to
finding her guilty, to reconsider that verdict.
Alas, not everything works out, and Edwin Stanton, the Secretary
of War – a scarcely recognizable Kevin Kline – and the off-camera President Johnson,
himself from Tennessee, undermine Captain Aiken’s good work at convincing a
judge to grant a writ of habeas corpus,
which would give Mary Suratt a new trial in a civilian court. Sadly, Mary Suratt joins the three men on the
gallows. Nonetheless, job well done, counsel.
So we have Civil War subject matter + courtroom drama + stellar
cast = movie worth watching AND blogging about. Available from Netflix.
