Conspiracy Theory

Mel Gibson plays a New York cabbie, name of Jerry Fletcher, who writes a pathetic little newsletter (with a grand total of five subscribers) detailing various irrational conspiracy theories that his unhinged mind has invented. He's also obsessed with Justice Department employee Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts), and spends much of his free time either pestering her at work or spying on her at her Manhattan apartment. One day, he's abducted and tortured by a sinister bald man (Patrick Stewart); after escaping, he concludes, sensibly enough, that one of his theories must be correct. But there's a hitch: the bald man said nothing specific, so Jerry doesn't know which theory riled him up. This is a great idea for a movie; the trouble is, it isn't, as it turns out, screenwriter Brian Helgeland's idea for this movie. Jerry's newsletter is a red herring--what's really going on is both a lot sillier and a lot less compelling. And the moment that it's revealed, Conspiracy Theory, which until that point had been a genuinely exciting and unusual thriller, goes straight into the toilet; the second half of the film is incompetent, malodorous nonsense. Quite a shame. Optional. (M. D'Angelo)