True Lies

There isn’t  a lot one can say about True Lies.  Its sole aspiration is to supply pop-corn entertainment and it does that well enough with Arnold Schwarzenegger acquitting himself handsomely as a crack anti-terrorist operative, Harry Tasker, who has been pretending to his wife,  Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), for 17 years that he is a boring computer salesman.  So good is he in his deception that Helen starts looking elsewhere of excitement and falls into the clutches of a sleazy used car salesman (Bill Paxton) pretending to be a secret agent.  Harry finds out and directs his Bondian know-how and resources  to saving his marriage.

The stunts and special effects were state-of-the art for their\ time and Cameron who had worked with Schwarzenegger on the 80s action classic The Terminator excels with inventively  over-the-top set pieces.  Unfortunately this only lasts for about two-thirds of the running time before becoming silly and then sillier as Helen becomes involved in Harry’s real world.  Poor Curtis who is very good as the conservative suburban wife, as ever, has to get her kit off  in a scene which is only the most obvious instance of a wearing sexism that is usually the contribution of Tom Arnold as Harry’s partner.

The film, which is a remake of a French movie called Le Totale or Jackpot (and for once it is better than the original), with its crazed Middle Eastern terrorist (Art Malik) and its Harrier fighter jet destroying a skyscraper it is eerily prescient of 9/11 although here these elements are played just for japes.  If only it had been able to maintain the promise of its first 30 minutes True Lies could have also been a classic. As it is, it’s only half of one.

 

Want something different?