Deception
USA 2000
Reviewed by Geoffrey Macnab
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
US, the present. Rudy, a convicted car thief, and Nick are cell mates. Nick is pen pals with Ashley, a beautiful young woman he has never met. During a riot in the dining hall, a prisoner with a grudge attacks Rudy. Nick is stabbed trying to defend Rudy and appears to die.
Rudy is released. He sees Ashley waiting outside the prison. He pretends to be Nick, for whom she is waiting. They become lovers. Ashley's psychopathic truck-driver brother Gabriel knows that Nick used to work in a Michigan casino. Using Nick's inside information, Gabriel and his gang plan to rob the casino. They refuse to believe Rudy when he tells them he is only impersonating Nick. Realising that they'll kill him otherwise, he carries on the deception. He learns that Ashley is actually Gabriel's lover and co-conspirator.
The thieves, each dressed as Santa Claus, turn up at the casino. They find the money, but the heist goes wrong. In the ensuing shoot-out, only Gabriel and Ashley escape, with Rudy as their prisoner. They are about to kill him when the real Nick appears. He reveals that he staged his own death and, together with Ashley, plotted the robbery. Nick and Ashley now kill Gabriel. Rudy foils Nick and Ashley's attempt on his life and kills them both. Left with all the money and still dressed as Santa Claus, he makes his way home.
Review
Lightness of touch is not exactly director John Frankenheimer's trademark. Whether dealing with global terrorism (Black Sunday, 1976) or international car racing (Grand Prix, 1966), his films tend to take themselves very seriously. Even his two classic Cold War dramas, The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and Seven Days in May (1963), were portentous affairs. Perhaps inevitably, then, his directorial touch has a deadening effect on Deception. With more plot twists and narrative sleights-of-hand than David Mamet's playfully convoluted thriller The Spanish Prisoner, Ehren Kruger's script is - you can't help thinking - partly tongue-in-cheek; but if this is the case, the jokes and attempts at self-parody have gone unnoticed by Frankenheimer.
Deception begins promisingly enough, with young thief Rudy behind bars. "That's me... menace to society," he tells us in a self-deprecating voiceover. Thanks to the austere lighting and martial music, the prison scenes have an intensity which the rest of the film lacks. The dining-hall fight scene, in particular, is staged with real flair. (After Birdman of Alcatraz, 1962, one guesses prison riots are second nature to Frankenheimer.) Unfortunately, once Rudy is released, matters begin rapidly to unravel. It doesn't help that none of the main protagonists is plausible and their behaviour often seems irrational. Genial, clean-cut Ben Affleck, who plays Rudy, is more like a preppy college student than a hardened con. He gets the best one-liners ("I had better sex in prison" he taunts the movie's femme fatale Ashley when she betrays him), but seems uncertain whether he is playing a light romantic lead or an all-out action hero.
The characters aren't developed in any depth, either. All we know about Rudy is that he used to steal cars, his greatest craving on being released from jail is hot chocolate and he wants to be home for Christmas. The apparent brains behind the casino heist Gabriel has a self-pitying monologue in which he bemoans the plight of the overworked American truck driver, but we learn little about him. As the double-crosses come thick and fast, it's hard to retain much curiosity about or sympathy for any of the film's duplicitous protagonists.
"When writing and talking about the film," producers Miramax/Dimension enjoin journalists in the press kit, "we would appreciate that you protect its unexpected plot developments so that the audience can enjoy them for the first time." But these "unexpected plot developments" are, perversely, what make the film so predictable. Once the ground rules are established - namely that everyone is cheating everyone else and that Frankenheimer will pull the carpet from beneath the audience's feet as often as he can - the tension drains out of the storytelling. The result is that the (final) surprise ending isn't so much ingenious as hugely contrived - yet one more cheap trick in a film that abounds in them.
Credits
- Director
- John Frankenheimer
- Producers
- Marty Katz
- Bob Weinstein
- Chris Moore
- Screenplay
- Ehren Kruger
- Director of Photography
- Alan Caso
- Editors
- Tony Gibbs
- Michael Kahn
- Production Designer
- Barbara Dunphy
- Music/Score Producer
- Alan Silvestri
- ©Miramax Film Corp.
- Production Company
- Dimension Films presents a Marty Katz production
- Executive Producers
- Harvey Weinstein
- Cary Granat
- Andrew Rona
- Co-producers
- B. Casey Grant
- Mark Indig
- Associate Producer
- James Sbardellati
- Executives in Charge of Production
- Kevin Hyman
- Beth Anne Calabro
- Production Executive
- Tracy McGrath
- Production Supervisor
- Penny Gibbs
- Production Co-ordinator
- Yvonne Melville
- Unit Production Manager
- B. Casey Grant
- Location Managers
- Kirk Johns
- Prince George:
- Connie Kennedy
- Post-production Supervisor
- Maggie Cone
- 2nd Unit Directors
- US:
- Marty Katz
- Canada:
- David Crone
- Assistant Directors
- James Sbardellati
- Carwyn Jones
- Berengaria Tomkies
- 2nd Unit:
- Mairzee Almas
- Script Supervisors
- Angela Allen
- 2nd Unit:
- Natasha Young
- Lori Kuchera
- Casting
- Associates:
- Mali Finn
- Emily Schweber
- Canadian:
- Lynne Carrow
- Dimension:
- Denise Doyle
- Canadian Associate:
- Susan Taylor-Brouse
- ADR Voice:
- Barbara Harris
- Camera Operators
- David Crone
- Doug Craik
- Underwater:
- Rick Mason
- Steadicam Operator
- David Crone
- 2nd Unit Spacecam Operator
- Ron Goodman
- Visual Effects Producer
- Crystal Dowd
- Special Visual Effects
- Pinnacle Studios
- Additional Visual Effects
- Digiscope
- Special Effects
- Co-ordinator:
- Bill Orr
- Head Fabricator:
- Graham Hollins
- Fabricator:
- Steve Davis
- Miniatures Effects
- Cinema Production Services Inc
- Art Directors
- Helen Jarvis
- Prince George:
- Eric Fraser
- Set Decorator
- Elizabeth Wilcox
- Draftsman
- Willem Doesburg
- Storyboard Artist
- Ted Boonthanakit
- Costume Designer
- May Routh
- Costume Supervisor
- Sandra Watson
- Make-up Department Head
- Victoria Down
- Prosthetics Make-up Effects
- Crist Ballas
- Hair Department Head
- Sherry Linder-Gygli
- Titles/Opticals
- Howard Anderson Co.
- Orchestrations
- William Ross
- Executive in Charge of Music
- Randy Spendlove
- Music Editors
- Dan DiPrima
- Kenneth Karman
- Music Scoring Mixer
- Dennis Sands
- Music Audio Programming
- David Bifano
- Music Consultants
- Patrick Lussier
- Lisa Mozden
- Soundtrack
- "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" - Dean Martin; "Little Drummer Boy" - Percy Faith; "Love Roller Coaster" - Ohio Players; "At Last" - Etta James; "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree" - Brenda Lee; "What Christmas Means to Me" - Stevie Wonder; "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" - The Canadian Brass; "Silver Bells"; "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"; "Reindeer Games"; "Joy to the World"
- Sound Mixer
- Larry Sutton
- Recordists
- Gary Ritchie
- Kathleen Mccart
- Re-recording Mixers
- Steve Pederson
- Rick Alexander
- Michael Herbick
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Mike Le-Mare
- Sound Editor
- Solange S. Schwalbe
- Dialogue Editor
- Edmund J. Lachman
- Sound Effects Editors
- Robert Fitzgerald
- Steve Livingston
- David Lewis Yewdall
- ADR
- Supervising Editor:
- Hari Ryatt
- Editors:
- Dwayne Avery
- John Adams
- Foley
- Artists:
- Vince Nicastro
- Katherine Barper
- Mixer:
- Evelyn Nickle
- Supervising Editor:
- Karola Storr
- Editor:
- Brady A. Schwartz
- Stunt Co-ordinators
- Joe Dunne
- Canadian:
- Jacob Rupp
- Weapons Consultant
- Frank Jones
- 2nd Unit Helicopter Pilot
- Steve Wright
- Film Extract
- Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
- Cast
- Ben Affleck
- Rudy Duncan
- Gary Sinise
- Gabriel
- Charlize Theron
- Ashley
- Dennis Farina
- Jack Bangs
- James Frain
- Nick
- Donal Logue
- Pug
- Clarence Williams III
- Merlin
- Dana Stubblefield
- The Alamo
- Mark Acheson
- mean guard
- Tom Heaton
- ugly staffer
- Isaac Hayes
- Zook
- Michael Sunczyk
- Douglas H. Arthurs
- distant inmates
- Dean Wray
- Ron Sauve
- guards
- Ron Hyatt
- prisoner 1
- Hrothgar Mathews
- exit guard
- Danny Trejo
- Jumpy
- Gordon Tootoosis
- old governor
- Lee Jay Bamberry
- young governor
- Frank Jones
- security boss
- Jimmy Herman
- bartender
- John Destry
- fat guy
- Ashton Kutcher
- college kid
- Ana Paul Piedade
- Portuguese woman
- Enuka Okuma
- Eva de Viveiros
- cocktail waitresses
- Joanna Piros
- TV newscaster
- Robyn Driscoll
- desk clerk
- Lonny Chapman
- old timer
- Alonso Oyarzun
- casino dealer
- Rod Wolfe
- Marcus Hondro
- cashiers
- Sam Bob
- video guard
- Jacob Rupp
- David Jacox
- park rangers
- Anna Hagan
- mother
- Ken Camroux
- father
- Terry O'Sullivan
- Aunt Mary
- Michael Puttonen
- Bill
- Paula Shaw
- Aunt Lisbeth
- Don S. Williams
- Uncle Ray
- Jenafor Ryane
- Jill
- James Hutson
- Mike
- Wendy Noel
- Stacey
- Blair Slater
- Sam
- Certificate
- 15
- Distributor
- Buena Vista International (UK)
- 9,389 feet
- 104 minutes 20 seconds
- Dolby Digital/DTS/SDDS
- Colour/Prints by
- DeLuxe
- Super 35 [2
- Director
- John Frankenheimer
- Producers
- Marty Katz
- Bob Weinstein
- Chris Moore
- Screenplay
- Ehren Kruger
- Director of Photography
- Alan Caso
- Editors
- Tony Gibbs
- Michael Kahn
- Production Designer
- Barbara Dunphy
- Music/Score Producer
- Alan Silvestri
- ©Miramax Film Corp.
- Production Company
- Dimension Films presents a Marty Katz production
- Executive Producers
- Harvey Weinstein
- Cary Granat
- Andrew Rona
- Co-producers
- B. Casey Grant
- Mark Indig
- Associate Producer
- James Sbardellati
- Executives in Charge of Production
- Kevin Hyman
- Beth Anne Calabro
- Production Executive
- Tracy McGrath
- Production Supervisor
- Penny Gibbs
- Production Co-ordinator
- Yvonne Melville
- Unit Production Manager
- B. Casey Grant
- Location Managers
- Kirk Johns
- Prince George:
- Connie Kennedy
- Post-production Supervisor
- Maggie Cone
- 2nd Unit Directors
- US:
- Marty Katz
- Canada:
- David Crone
- Assistant Directors
- James Sbardellati
- Carwyn Jones
- Berengaria Tomkies
- 2nd Unit:
- Mairzee Almas
- Script Supervisors
- Angela Allen
- 2nd Unit:
- Natasha Young
- Lori Kuchera
- Casting
- Associates:
- Mali Finn
- Emily Schweber
- Canadian:
- Lynne Carrow
- Dimension:
- Denise Doyle
- Canadian Associate:
- Susan Taylor-Brouse
- ADR Voice:
- Barbara Harris
- Camera Operators
- David Crone
- Doug Craik
- Underwater:
- Rick Mason
- Steadicam Operator
- David Crone
- 2nd Unit Spacecam Operator
- Ron Goodman
- Visual Effects Producer
- Crystal Dowd
- Special Visual Effects
- Pinnacle Studios
- Additional Visual Effects
- Digiscope
- Special Effects
- Co-ordinator:
- Bill Orr
- Head Fabricator:
- Graham Hollins
- Fabricator:
- Steve Davis
- Miniatures Effects
- Cinema Production Services Inc
- Art Directors
- Helen Jarvis
- Prince George:
- Eric Fraser
- Set Decorator
- Elizabeth Wilcox
- Draftsman
- Willem Doesburg
- Storyboard Artist
- Ted Boonthanakit
- Costume Designer
- May Routh
- Costume Supervisor
- Sandra Watson
- Make-up Department Head
- Victoria Down
- Prosthetics Make-up Effects
- Crist Ballas
- Hair Department Head
- Sherry Linder-Gygli
- Titles/Opticals
- Howard Anderson Co.
- Orchestrations
- William Ross
- Executive in Charge of Music
- Randy Spendlove
- Music Editors
- Dan DiPrima
- Kenneth Karman
- Music Scoring Mixer
- Dennis Sands
- Music Audio Programming
- David Bifano
- Music Consultants
- Patrick Lussier
- Lisa Mozden
- Soundtrack
- "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" - Dean Martin; "Little Drummer Boy" - Percy Faith; "Love Roller Coaster" - Ohio Players; "At Last" - Etta James; "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree" - Brenda Lee; "What Christmas Means to Me" - Stevie Wonder; "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" - The Canadian Brass; "Silver Bells"; "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"; "Reindeer Games"; "Joy to the World"
- Sound Mixer
- Larry Sutton
- Recordists
- Gary Ritchie
- Kathleen Mccart
- Re-recording Mixers
- Steve Pederson
- Rick Alexander
- Michael Herbick
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Mike Le-Mare
- Sound Editor
- Solange S. Schwalbe
- Dialogue Editor
- Edmund J. Lachman
- Sound Effects Editors
- Robert Fitzgerald
- Steve Livingston
- David Lewis Yewdall
- ADR
- Supervising Editor:
- Hari Ryatt
- Editors:
- Dwayne Avery
- John Adams
- Foley
- Artists:
- Vince Nicastro
- Katherine Barper
- Mixer:
- Evelyn Nickle
- Supervising Editor:
- Karola Storr
- Editor:
- Brady A. Schwartz
- Stunt Co-ordinators
- Joe Dunne
- Canadian:
- Jacob Rupp
- Weapons Consultant
- Frank Jones
- 2nd Unit Helicopter Pilot
- Steve Wright
- Film Extract
- Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
- Cast
- Ben Affleck
- Rudy Duncan
- Gary Sinise
- Gabriel
- Charlize Theron
- Ashley
- Dennis Farina
- Jack Bangs
- James Frain
- Nick
- Donal Logue
- Pug
- Clarence Williams III
- Merlin
- Dana Stubblefield
- The Alamo
- Mark Acheson
- mean guard
- Tom Heaton
- ugly staffer
- Isaac Hayes
- Zook
- Michael Sunczyk
- Douglas H. Arthurs
- distant inmates
- Dean Wray
- Ron Sauve
- guards
- Ron Hyatt
- prisoner 1
- Hrothgar Mathews
- exit guard
- Danny Trejo
- Jumpy
- Gordon Tootoosis
- old governor
- Lee Jay Bamberry
- young governor
- Frank Jones
- security boss
- Jimmy Herman
- bartender
- John Destry
- fat guy
- Ashton Kutcher
- college kid
- Ana Paul Piedade
- Portuguese woman
- Enuka Okuma
- Eva de Viveiros
- cocktail waitresses
- Joanna Piros
- TV newscaster
- Robyn Driscoll
- desk clerk
- Lonny Chapman
- old timer
- Alonso Oyarzun
- casino dealer
- Rod Wolfe
- Marcus Hondro
- cashiers
- Sam Bob
- video guard
- Jacob Rupp
- David Jacox
- park rangers
- Anna Hagan
- mother
- Ken Camroux
- father
- Terry O'Sullivan
- Aunt Mary
- Michael Puttonen
- Bill
- Paula Shaw
- Aunt Lisbeth
- Don S. Williams
- Uncle Ray
- Jenafor Ryane
- Jill
- James Hutson
- Mike
- Wendy Noel
- Stacey
- Blair Slater
- Sam
- Certificate
- 15
- Distributor
- Buena Vista International (UK)
- 9,389 feet
- 104 minutes 20 seconds
- Dolby Digital/DTS/SDDS
- Colour/Prints by
- DeLuxe
- Super 35 [2.35:1]
- US theatrical title
- Reindeer Games .35:1]
- US theatrical title
- Reindeer Games