Fletchers Visionen (1997)

Fletchers Visionen: Directed by Richard Donner. With Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts, Patrick Stewart, Cylk Cozart. A taxi driver with a penchant for conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of these theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.

“This romantic thriller was made over a decade ago, years before I was old enough to watch R-rated movies, and by the time I rented it just yesterday, I still didnu0026#39;t know much about it. However, I did know that the co-stars were Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts, two Hollywood movie stars I had been familiar with for a long time. I also knew that it was directed by Richard Donner, who directed the u0026quot;Lethal Weaponu0026quot; quadrilogy, which Gibson also co-starred in. I had seen all four of those films, and thought that overall, it was a good franchise. So, I rented u0026quot;Conspiracy Theoryu0026quot; because I knew it was another film directed by Donner and starring Gibson and it also looked like a promising thriller. Still, I wanted to like it more than I did.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJerry Fletcher is a New York taxi driver and dedicated conspiracy theorist. He can think of conspiracy theories for anything, and constantly talks to his passengers about them. He even writes his theories in his own newsletter, which is sent to only five different people in the mail. The taxi driver has a crush on Alice Sutton, and woman who works for the Justice Department and whose father was murdered, but she doesnu0026#39;t know about Fletcheru0026#39;s feelings towards her. One day, after he is kicked out of Aliceu0026#39;s office, he is soon captured by a group of CIA agents and finds himself in a mysterious place where he is tortured by a CIA doctor named Dr. Jonas! This sends Jerry into a fit of insanity, and after he bites the doctoru0026#39;s nose, severely injuring him, he manages to escape from the building. It turns out that at least one of the New York taxi driveru0026#39;s many conspiracy theories appears to be true, but he canu0026#39;t tell which one it is! u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe beginning shows the main character ranting to various passengers in his cab about his conspiracy theories, and this is a fairly shaky beginning. Soon after that, thereu0026#39;s a flashy sequence showing Jerryu0026#39;s frightening memories, and I found this part to be a little rushed and unfocused. A lot of the film can probably be described that way. That part is followed by a cheesy and overlong scene with the taxi driver watching his love interest through her window, singing on her treadmill. Despite all this, it still looks like itu0026#39;s going to be at least a fairly decent thriller around the beginning and it is at times, but itu0026#39;s not consistent enough. The early torture scene didnu0026#39;t do much for me, and it even features frightening memories of Jerryu0026#39;s flashing before his eyes again, with the same problems as the first time this happens. Another thing that doesnu0026#39;t help is that Jerryu0026#39;s constant conspiracy theories can get tiring. Fortunately, there are definitely some good thrills and action, and Mel Gibson puts on an impressive performance as Jerry Fletcher, though his character here is no match for the likable Martin Riggs in the u0026quot;Lethal Weaponu0026quot; series. Julia Roberts as Alice Sutton and Patrick Stewart (another actor Iu0026#39;ve been familiar with for a long time) as Dr. Jonas are also memorable cast highlights.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAt 135 minutes, this 1997 thriller is a fairly long movie, and later in the film, it didnu0026#39;t seem as flawed to me as it did for a long time before then. It might improve after a while, and Gibsonu0026#39;s character might eventually get easier to sympathize with. I may have been worn out during the second half or so, and get the feeling I could have gotten just a BIT more out of the film (at least closer to the end) if Iu0026#39;d had a bit more energy. For that reason, I feel I could almost give it a 7/10 instead of a 6. On the other hand, I donu0026#39;t think having a high energy level would have hidden this movieu0026#39;s severe flaws from me, flaws which make u0026quot;Conspiracy Theoryu0026quot; somewhat disappointing. Even if it does improve along the way, I would say it definitely takes quite a while to do so. This movie is by no means horrible, and could be entertaining if you like a good romantic thriller and are old enough to see the violence here, but it still didnu0026#39;t meet my expectations.”