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Unclear and Present Danger

Absolute Power

Unclear and Present Danger

Jamelle Bouie

Tv & Film, Society & Culture, History

4.7 β€’ 660 Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 14 September 2024

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this week's episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Absolute Power, the 1997 conspiracy thriller directed by Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by William Goldman and based off of a David Baldacci novel of the same name. In addition to Eastwood, Absolute Power stars Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Judy Davis, Scott Glenn and Dennis Haysbert. 

In Absolute Power, Eastwood plays Luther Whitney, a master thief who makes the fateful decision to rob billionaire Walter Sullivan, a close friend and ally of the president of the United States. During the burglary, Whitney sees President Alan Richmond assault Sullivan's wife, Christy, with whom he is having an affair. When she fights back, the president's security detail kills her. Sullivan, who witnesses the altercation, escapes with evidence of the killing. When he becomes prime suspect in an investigation led by local police, Whitney devotes himself to exposing the president's misdeed while evading Sullivan's hired assassin β€” who believes Whitney is responsible β€” as well as a secret service agent who wants to silence the only witness. 

The tagline for Absolute Power was "Corrupts Absolutely."

You can find Absolute Power to rent or purchase on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

For the next episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John will watch the 1997 thriller The Devil's Own, directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt. It's available to stream on Netflix or for rent or purchase from Amazon or Apple TV.

Transcript

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0:00.0

The body has been hidden. The murder weapon has disappeared. The killer's identity has been concealed. Two men know the truth.

0:23.6

One is a master thief.

0:28.6

The other is the most powerful man in the world.

0:33.6

Clint Eastwood

0:39.3

Gene Hackman

0:43.3

Ed Harris

0:45.3

Laura Linney

0:47.3

Judy Davis

0:49.3

and Scott Glenn

0:51.3

Absolute Power

0:53.3

Absolute Power Absolute Power Absolute Power

0:55.0

The Welcome to Unclear and Present Danger, a podcast about the political and military thrillers of the 1990s and what they say

1:28.1

about the politics of that decade. I'm Jamel Bowie. I'm a columnist for the New York Times

1:32.1

opinion section. My name is John Gans. I write the Substacacac Letter on Popular Front, and I am the

1:38.6

author of the book When the Clock Broke, Conmen, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s,

1:46.2

which is now available wherever good books are sold.

1:49.5

I was about to say that as well. So buy the book.

1:52.7

Yeah, please.

1:55.2

On this episode of the podcast, we watched the 1997 political thriller, Absolute Power, directed by Clint Eastwood, starring

2:03.7

Clint Eastwood, screenplayed by William Goldman, and also starring Gene Hackman, Ed Harris,

2:08.8

Laura Lennie, Judy Davis, Scott Glenn, and Dennis Hayesbert. In Absolute Power, Clint Eastwood

2:16.7

plays Luther Whitney, also based off of the novel by the same name, by David Beladachi, the airport, the king of airport thrillers in the 90s.

...

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