Any time you mix two high profile and extremely popular actors together in a movie, the results are often unpredictable. Will the two get along and make a great movie, such as Newman and Redford did in "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid?" Or will there be rumors of on set ego clashes and continual rewriting of the script to appease one star and then the other, as was reported during the making of Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer's thud, "The Ghost & The Darkness?" We're happy to report that we've heard of no such tiffs on the set of "Mad City," and the result is a fabulous movie that showcases both Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta's fine performances.
Director Costa Gavras, working from Tom Matthews's script, has turned it into something you're probably not expecting when you sit down with your popcorn waiting for the previews to begin. While the movie initially appears to focus on the hostage situation and Travolta's "demands" (a little like Pacino in "Dog Day Afternoon" or any other hostage movie), it changes gear midstream and proceeds to deliver a powerful and scathing blow at the media. That's actually a good thing, because the hostage story could only go so far -- we've seen it done many times before -- and as Max tells Sam in this movie, the bad guy always gets shot in the end. Fortunately when that part of this movie begins to lose steam, the plot essentially splits into two interrelated stories that equally hold our interest. But Gavras is after bigger game, and the media circus that often develops around such events is his target. Essentially a case study of how the media can easily sway with, or cause the public to react to a story, the movie fortunately never feels too heavy handed or preachy.
That's mainly due to the great performances that come as no surprise from these two tremendous acting talents. Hoffman delivers his usual, intense role where he makes us feel that the world's going to end if what he wants or believes in doesn't happen. While that sounds melodramatic, it's not, and Hoffman's reputation for digging deep into his character pays off here and he comes off as completely believable. You can nearly see Max's eyes glisten while he strains to hold in the drool as he salivates over the tremendous possibilities unfolding before him. Travolta, on the other hand, is really into playing darker characters nowadays, and while Sam isn't a purely evil guy -- he's a working stiff who's down on his luck -- he does have a mean streak that becomes more apparent as every sleepless hour passes by.
What makes his character tolerable is that Travolta's created him as such a sympathetic guy that you just want to reach out to the screen and help the poor man out. He's also quite funny (unintentionally as a character) in some scenes, such as when he has to ask Max what his "demands" are as he can't think quickly enough to answer that question for himself. The tragedy that follows, however, is that as he gets less sleep and loses faith in Max's help, he slowly but surely digs his own grave. Regarding that, Gavras makes sure the media, and not Sam, comes off as the villain.
The supporting cast delivers fine performances with Alan Alda giving the best as a ruthless news anchor. While he may look a little long in the tooth nowadays to sit in such a media conscious position, Alda creates a driven character who proves to be an equal match -- if not the occasionally superior competitor -- to Hoffman's idealistic Max. That and everything else about the movie work so well that it's enjoyable watching the film click at every right spot.
While some may see the film trying too hard to push its agenda -- an attack on the media -- we felt that it fit in perfectly and seemed a natural evolution of the plot and therefore didn't stand out. Others may be tired of Travolta now appearing in nearly every film made (it's not true, it only seems that way), but his take on this down and out character is a winner. And that's how we feel about "Mad City" as a whole. It may not be the happiest film around, but its execution and performances are very good. Thus, we give it an 8 out of 10.