Rating: PG13
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 03/31/1998
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1/DDS
Run Time: 115 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Adult Humor, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
Investigative TV journalist Max Brackett (
Dustin Hoffman) suffers setbacks and winds up filing routine reports from Madeline, California. Max and his eager intern Laurie (
Mia Kirshner) are doing a story at the local Museum of Natural History when a bigger story erupts. The Museum's director, Mrs. Banks (
Blythe Danner), refuses to talk to former museum security guard Sam Baily (
John Travolta) about his firing due to budget cuts. Angered, Sam shoots a shotgun, accidentally hitting another security guard. Realizing he's in the middle of breaking news, Max phones his supervisor (
Robert Prosky) and goes to live coverage. A class of young children is visiting the Museum, and Sam holds them hostage. Sam's link to the outside world is the opportunistic Max, who manipulates the situation, telling Sam what to say on camera. Within hours, as the event escalates to national interest, vendors arrive to hawk products at the museum grounds, while the entire country tunes in the ongoing coverage. The screenplay by
Eric Williams and
Tom Matthews (former managing editor of
Boxoffice) is a technological updating of the 1951
Billy Wilder classic
Ace in the Hole (aka
The Big Carnival) about a scheming journalist (
Kirk Douglas) who delays the rescue of a man trapped by a rockfall in order to continue his newspaper reports. Acknowledging the Wilder film, the name "Brackett" is an obvious nod to
Charles Brackett, Wilder's long-time collaborator. Filmed in Los Angeles and San Jose, where the San Jose Athletic Club served as the museum location site. Shown at the 1997 Denver Film Festival.
~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
