The End of Violence (1997)

This should have gotten the Jury award for biggest turkey of the year. People think that if the actors talk in some sort of mumbo jumbo they must be expressing something prophetic... in this case pathetic. Oh it's a product of LA all right, self absorbed and searching for the meaning of life in a place which has already determined that the meaning of life is the fast lane. The protagonist not only gets off the fast lane but falls off the track all together. The acting by some of the principals is bad. The acting of some of the supporting cast is laughable. The director must have been high on life or pot for this is really one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Given material that has merit, the director has produced a few fine works... this is far from one. I doubt if most people who actually paid money to see it lasted to the end. Why bother? I got it in the remainder bin of Comcast... those free movies they allow you to see. They should pay people to watch stuff like this.

This film is more about people adapting to change than about thrills. Bill Pullman is a very successful producer who uses people. His wife decides to leave him, but at the same time he gets caught up in a bizarre plan to introduce a pre-emptive high-tech crime-intervention system based on the ubiquitous "Big Brother" cameras that we've all become so used to in the developed world. All though he actually knows nothing yet, he's targeted for assasination. He finds refuge with his Mexican gardeners, and, while trying to discover why he's now hunted he goes through an epiphany of his own. This film is full of lovely characterisations. It's much more than a conspiracy movie.

I'm not surprised that a child would not understand this movie. To me it was very meaningful, but only in terms of lived experience in jobs and politics. It's really "Brave New World," where authority figures keep order by putting up cameras everywhere and intervening to eliminate anyone who is disorderly or criminal. Violence is a huge preoccupation, but only tolerated as make-believe -- but the make-believe gets confused with real violence. Control, transgression, power are the pivots of the well-to-do. Ashcroft stuff.But the Mexican and immigrant families offer a warmer, truer alternative. In the end, they are more powerful because they are free and can think. The Kinko's episode, in which the police are defeated from taking control by their own preconceptions, is a good example. As underlings, laborers, the Mexicans understand what's at stake and they are everywhere, invisible to their employers. The intellectual technician doesn't catch on until it's too late.I'm told that what I saw was a re-cut and that the early version was indeed chaotic with a lot of loose ends. All I can say is that now this is one of the videos I rewatch and ponder.

This film seemed to wander about aimlessly, stumbling over obstacles such as a definitive plot. Faced with two choices, falling asleep or dying of boredom I opted for a third choice and changed the channel. I have no idea how it turned out but I doubt the loss of this knowledge will have lasting effects.