True Lies

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Arnold, Jamie Lee Curtis

Cameron loses the magic touch here, despite the bravura stunts. The film looks great, and the action is good, but there are several fatal flaws. One, Schwarzenegger cannot act (not a problem when he is the Terminator, but a big problem when he is trying to be a human). (Also, he cannot dance.) Two, we never give a hoot about any of the cardboard cutout characters. (Tom Arnold, underplaying slyly, is the only one who gets away clean.) Three, there is nothing new about this stuff; it's basically just a James Bond joyride tricked out with a domestic complication. The picture exists slowly to support the extravagant action. Nothing here involves us the way Cameron's best pictures (T1 and T2, and “Aliens”) did. And the plot itself is minimal--good spies vs. bad terrorists. And I would also have to agree that it's a bit mean-spirited, as if Cameron were a grownup trying to act like an adolescent. He seems to be after our baser natures here, which is pretty much what he gets. Mildly diverting at best, but not 100 million bucks worth, in my opinion. (7/20/94)