{"id":1347,"date":"2011-04-14T07:23:57","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T14:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=1347"},"modified":"2011-04-21T12:51:27","modified_gmt":"2011-04-21T19:51:27","slug":"review-the-conspirator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=1347","title":{"rendered":"Review: THE CONSPIRATOR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Was Mary Surratt innocent? She was the first woman to be executed by the U.S. government. Her crime was conspiring in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Conspirator\u201d is a film that may be criticized as painting Surratt as a victim and the system that convicted her corrupt. But I didn\u2019t see it that way at all, the central question concerning Surratt\u2019s guilt is never fully answered in the movie. Sure, the draconian tactics following the assassination attributed to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton seem tyrannical and even sinister. The film, however, plays everything more objectively than most viewers would expect. The irony, of course, is that after her execution, Surratt\u2019s son, John, was tried and not convicted in the assassination plot that resulted in his mother\u2019s death by hanging. This fact should be lost on no one.<\/p>\n

In the film, solemnly directed by sure-handed Robert Redford, Surratt is played skillfully by Robin Wright (see \u201cForrest Gump\u201d). While she is certainly sympathetic, the tone of the award worthy performance and the approach taken by Redford manages to remove much of the melodrama that might otherwise mar any shot at credibility. I say \u201ccredibility\u201d instead of accuracy, because I have no idea whether the film is historically accurate, but the movie sure feels credible. The time, post Civil War America in 1865, is captured in a way that makes it seem quaint and much less glamorous than we\u2019ve been accustomed to seeing in Hollywood productions. The elitist parties shown in the movie are rather humble affairs lacking in pomp and circumstance. The scale of the entire production is rather small. Even the opening scene that takes place on a Civil War battlefield is restricted and shot closely conveying intimacy over the larger picture. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Conspirator\u201d isn\u2019t a historical epic, it is a courtroom procedural taken from a time when the Law as we know it wasn\u2019t in place. The very protections we hold near and dear were still evolving and being interpreted on basic levels. Mary Surratt was not tried in any courtroom we are familiar with. Instead, she was tried and convicted in the assassination plot by a nine member military commission. And she was represented by a young attorney, Frederick Aiken, who was formerly a Union Army officer. <\/p>\n

In the film, Aiken is played by James McAvoy (see \u201cWanted\u201d and \u201cAtonement\u201d) who, at first, seems completely wrong for the role. In fact, McAvoy\u2019s uncomfortable and uncertain attitude that one could characterize as \u201citchy\u201d in playing Aiken is one of the reasons why the film\u2019s second and third acts work so well. Aiken is depicted as not wanting to represent Surratt and being so new as a lawyer that his skills would be ill-suited for the task. But a little bit of magic happens as McAvoy literally grows into the role and we with him. It\u2019s all part of the understated grace permeating Redford\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

But as much as \u201cThe Conspirator\u201d exudes sincerity, it is hardly an entertaining film. The early stages are slow going and some viewers will become restless. At times, it is like a Masterpiece Theater production languishing on dialogue heavy moments that lack action and suspense–the often necessary components of box office successes. But the slow elements made me admire the film even more. And there can be no doubt that but for involvement of iconoclast Robert Redford (now in his mid-70s), such a movie could not have found adequate funding. At least, in other hands, \u201cThe Conspirator\u201d would have been given flashy epic treatment and been released into theaters in the winter vying for best picture honors. And that approach might have worked. It\u2019s just that the movie that Redford\u2019s made is one I\u2019d respect more.<\/p>\n

A handsome and important film focusing on one woman\u2019s plight that reflects a nation\u2019s division, \u201cThe Conspirator\u201d reminds us that the big problems are often personal ones as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan calls it a small movie about big issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1347"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1382,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1347\/revisions\/1382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}