Impostor

Review by By Clint Morris

In Philip K. Dick's world, Total Recall's Doug Quaid plays totem tennis with cop/replicant Harrison Ford of Bladerunner and lunches with Hendriksson of Screamers, and the agency Tom Cruise works for in Minority Report exists as a sister company to the ESA, the devious corporation of our movie in question: Impostor.

The late author would definitely be pleased with the world he has created for film - his characters have certainly been bought to life, even if the films have borderlined on the irrational.

A fun but forgettable piece of sci-fi fodder, Impostor is again adapted from one of the author's stories, and like his previous stories, puts intelligence first and the effects machine second.

Impostor is set in a futuristic world where much of the planet is guarded by electromagnetic force-field domes to protect it from a decade-long attack by aliens. Each human carries an implant in the spine so that virtually all activity is monitored.

Scientist Spencer Olham (Gary Sinise) and his wife, Maya (Madeleine Stowe) have a love far superior to any force field, but someone's about to crack that field and threaten their existence.

Major Hathaway (Vincent D'Onofrio) nabs Olham, believing he is a robot sent by the aliens. Naturally, he goes all Richard Kimble on his captors and escapes. With the authorities hot on his tail, Olham's determined to clear his name - if only he can get some damn medical proof...

Impostor might never have even made it to theatres. It was originally only intended to be a short film, one of three central pieces stapled together for a Science Fiction flick. But when the other two parts of the film failed to click, Impostor had the opportunity to shine on it's own. Some more money was thrown at director Gary Fleder (Kiss the Girls, Don't Say A Word) and the short became long.

Nowhere near as ground-breaking or pleasurable as Recall, or Bladerunner, Fleder's film is all too brief to make a lasting impression, let alone stand on it's own as an innovative piece of science fiction. If anything, it's the slightly dimish cousin of Bladerunner - without the star power or bloom.

However, take out a few ho-hum bits in the film's dragging middle, and Impostor is a stylish, sophisticated and genuinely intriguing flick from start to finish.

Gary Sinise is hardly leading man material, but he pulls this one off with flying colours. As does Madeleine Stowe as his on-screen wife, and Vincent D'Onofrio, revelling in his role as the charry Major, determined to crush the E.T.

Impostor is worth the ticket price - mainly for the surprise ending and set design - and most of its 96 minutes is absorbing. There's so much out at the cinemas though, you may want to wait for the small screen version and spend your money on something more novel and lengthier.

3 out of 5

Impostor
Australian release: Thursday June 13th
Cast: Gary Sinise, Madeleine Stowe, Vincent D'Onofrio, Mekhi Phifer, Tony Shalhoub.
Director: Gary Fleder.

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