In Espionage & In Health

Apart from Piranha II, you can confidently state that all of James Cameron’s films are classics to one degree or another. Of course within that term ‘classic’ there is a range of quality that peaks with Aliens at the top end and has Avatar and his 1994 action comedy True Lies at the other. That’s not to say True Lies is a bad film…it’s very much not…but it is the blockbuster director’s lightest, frothiest film despite the explosion fest.

Adapted from the 1991 French movie La Totale, True Lies is a clever blending of Bondian spy caper with a romantic marriage dramedy. As with The Abyss, the two separate plot lines don’t ever quite gel with each other during the full course of the running time although both elements work very well in their own right. Also, due to the light, comedic aspects of the film this is the least intellectually nourishing Cameron movie, but it more than makes up for it in surface entertainment like sharply delivered jokes, action sequences structured and staged to perfection and a grand, expensive production which is up there on the screen.

At the centre of the movie is a simple tale of a passionless married couple falling back in love. Jamie Lee Curtis shows what amazing range she has as an actress utilising her sexiness and comedy skills from Trading Places alongside the tough resilience of her Halloween performance. Schwarzenegger too is a revelation. He might not be the most naturalistic actor, but his performance is one of comedic precision and iconic action poses. The man can take direction well and his hero Harry Tasker has been honed, nudged and subtly guided so that the verbal and visual gags he delivers really, really work.

The same can be said of Cameron’s direction which is as technically perfect as anything he’s ever done. One of the greatest spy capers yet committed to film.