The Formula

source: The Formula

The Formula

The film is pure drivel, a screenwriter's anticapitalist fantasy exploiting anger over high gas prices in order to portray oil companies as all-powerful oligarchs. The formula for coal gasification is hardly a "secret" formula.

Less of the budget on overrated gasbag Brando and more on a good scriptwriter. Talk, talk, talk, increased body count and no suspense. Don't bother. It is a complete waste of film.

This movie is not for the weak of mind. The plot is complex. I remember reading reviews that used words like "murky." Since the movie was a bit more complex than cops chasing robbers around some city at high speed most critics lack the intellectual wherewithal to keep track of what is going on. Beginning with a friend's murder in Los Angeles Lt. Barney Caine, LAPD, (George C. Scott) follows a trail which takes him to Europe and leads to a formula for turning coal into gasoline. It takes Caine a while to uncover this and the plot takes a number of twists and turns. The ending can only reinforce one's cynicism about how the world works. The performances are strong and the movie is well worth the time taken to view it.

With two screen giants such as George C. Scott and Marlon Brando (even in a cameo), this film is worth seeing. One line from the film that has stuck with me is from Scott to Brando, "You're not in the oil business, you're in the oil shortage business." How true.

LAPD detective George C. Scott investigates the murder of an old friend. More and more murders happen as the investigation leads him into a conspiracy plot involving a formula for synthetic fuel created by Nazi scientists in World War II. Overlong thriller with dull stretches. Main selling point being that it's the only movie to costar heavy hitters George C. Scott and Marlon Brando, coincidentally the only two actors to refuse their Best Actor Oscars. Brando only appears in three scenes. For some reason he insisted on making himself up to look ridiculous with fake teeth, a comb-over, and something stuck up his nose. Beside that, he does fine and so does Scott. Nothing special in the career of either man but not the stinker some make it out to be. The plot involving the formula conspiracy is interesting. It's not a terrible film. It goes on too long and the fact that everybody Scott talks to seems to be murdered almost immediately afterward is pretty funny. But it's watchable.

This is a story about a man who discovers an evil plot and risks everything to thwart the scheme. He opposes the ultimate "establishment" and is weighed and found wanting when the time comes to take the final step to expose the ruling classes' determination to keep the lower class lower and the super upper class on top. After all his risks and frustrations and dangers the invisible powers that "be" casually regain the upper hand as if nothing has happened and once again it is business as usual. The movie is a powerful subliminal civics lesson for young people. The antithesis is another Marlon Brando movie titled "Burn." I suggest you see that one also.

Somebody cooked up a good idea. And cast one of the all-time great actors, George C Scott, in the lead role. Problem is, everything else is second-rate. The direction is flat and uninspiring. The acting is borderline hambone. The dialogue isn't half as interesting as the screenwriter thinks it is. But other than Scott, there are two reasons to watch this movie: Marthe Keller is a stunningly beautiful woman. The strip club scene in Berlin, with Nahzi strippers performing in front of B&W footage of Hilter and various henchmen. I burst out laughing. John Gielgud and Marlon Brando have basically cameo roles. They barely manage to avoid embarassing themselves.

I give this a high rating simply because of George C. Scott and Marlon Brando, who rise above muddled material and breathe life into an otherwise clunky TV movie. The plot is basically oil/greed ripping off the nation, and if I didn't know better I'd say Brando was channelling Dick Cheney, but the music and the script and the camera work (zooms, anyone?) are so cheesy that it's hard to stay with this movie. However. The performances are fresh and fun and strangely lively, all the actors are magnificent, and true or not- it's a nice little commentary on modern greed in America (and the world). A fun watch if you've nothing better to do than watch great actors go head to head.