The Conspirator (**1/2)

I was waiting for a moment in The Conspirator where motives would become clear and the director's vision would suddenly grab hold and pull me into the narrative. That moment never came, and as the film came to a close I came to the unfortunate realization that Robert Redford may simply not be the director he used to be.

Yes, we all know John Wilkes Booth was the assassin of President Lincoln, famously jumping onto the stage and yelling 'sic semper tyrannis,' but did you also know there were more than 8 people involved and plots of murdering more members of government were almost carried out that same night? Did you know that one of these people was a middle-aged woman named Mary Surratt, a woman who would eventually become the first female executed in the United States? Me neither, and as you may imagine, a film about this back story could provide an endless amount of originality and brilliance, but for one reason or another it falls short.

Perhaps it's due to the casting. Robin Wright Penn is perfectly adequate in drawing our sympathies, and Tom Wilkinson is the go-to man for an authorial figure, but James McAvoy's acting barely reaches beyond that of a high school drama. He is surprisingly ill-equipped to face off against so many other more experienced actors, and his attempted American accent is more often than not distracting. Alexis Bledel and Justin Long (yes, they're in this movie) also raise eyebrows, neither sinking into the film or convincing us of their roles as dramatic performers.

The film itself looks like it's photographed through wax paper, with a loss of all color and clarity of image in almost every shot. This is a shame because so many of the film's settings seem authentic or close to it, and how much more effective would it be if we could see these places in all their details?

And then to the plot itself. So little of this information is taught in schools, and I wonder why. The level of sympathy the audience is forced to feel for the 'protagonist' juxtaposed with the amount of hatred we feel for the antagonists should serve as some indication that this story has been slightly altered to serve dramatic purposes more effectively. I would not know, as I am not familiar with this topic, but stories are always much more layered than a film of this caliber can present them. I'll admit I was slightly more involved by the end, but the somber nature of the film coupled with the lack of dedication many involved seemed to feel makes The Conspirator far less grand of a movie than I was expecting.

(Awards potential: no awards potential)