There has been a lotta controversy about this movie. It was directed by Brian Helgeland (who also wrote the screenplay... this is his debut as a director, but he also wrote "The Conspiracy Theory," as well as writing the screenplay for "L.A. Confidential" with Curtis Hanson), and he originally got to direct the movie exactly as he wanted to. Mel Gibson was totally cool with that. Sadly, after a few test screenings, a new director was hired (unfortunately, I don't know who) to lighten up the dark tone of the movie. The end result? The movie is still pretty dark, but from what I hear, some action had been added and the ending changed. Also, James Coburn was used a little more.
Mel Gibson stars in this movie, and he does a fine job, but he's too much of a pretty boy for this kinda role. The rest of the cast includes Maria Bello (she's been in "E.R.," but I believe this is her first significant movie role), James Coburn (who's excellent in the movie), William Devane, Bill Duke, Gregg Henry (a Brian DePalma fave), Lucy Liu (she plays "Ling" in "Ally McBeal," and she's great here), David Paymer, and everyone's favorite tormented version of Michelle Pfeiffer, Deborah Kara Unger.
Almost all of the movie was directed by Brian Helgeland and parts were done by the replacement. I don't know who did what, but there were some really cool shots throughout the movie. I'm gonna just bite the bullet and say that Helgeland was really good as a director, and I look forward to seeing more outta him.
I'm usually
the first one to bitch and moan about a filmmaker having his vision tarnished,
but I hafta admit, I liked the version that I saw. Still, there's not a
doubt in my mind that if I saw Brian Helgeland's original version, I woulda
liked that version more.