Notes

The man in the background

Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Black Hawk Down) comes from the advertising business. He's staged spots for years, he doesn't remember how many, but there were well over a hundred. In advertising, the imagery is what counts. Stories are - if they exist at all - only secondary, you don't have to concentrate on characters. It's about putting the product in the right light. For this reason, feature films from former commercials are almost always optical delicacies. But not all of them can keep up on the other levels that a feature film has. "The Man in the Background," a thriller directed by Scott in 1987, is something of a prime example of such a prejudice against commercials. It's visually impressive. Scott gives the story the right pictures, has obviously invested a lot of time in choosing the right camera positions and, without unnecessary gimmicks, makes it a delightful treat for fans of visual implementation. However, if you also expect a twisty, exciting story and good actors, you will be disappointed. Because there is only standard genre food.



Mike Keegan (Tom Berenger) has just been promoted to detective in New York and then transferred straight to the station in pulsating Manhattan. His wife Ellie (Lorraine Bracco) in particular combines the hope that with the additional money they will move out of the hole they are currently living in and maybe even money for a washing machine. Keegan's first murder case looks like lame routine work for the newbie. At a high society party, the beautiful and equally rich Claire Gregory (Mimi Rogers) witnesses a brutal murder. Until the perpetrator is caught, she receives personal protection and Greenhorn Keegan is ordered to work on the unattractive night shift. But it is not as boring as expected. The beautiful Mimi takes her bodyguard to the parties of the rich and beautiful and of course the two get closer. The happily married family man falls in love with his protégé and not only endangers his marriage. Because the killer Joey Venza (Andreas Katsulas) is pursuing a perfidious plan to get rid of the key witness.



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“The man in the background” has the big problem that two obvious comparison films stand in his way that easily outdo him. After excursions into the past (The Duelists), future (Blade Runner, Alien) and fantasy (&quot;Legend&quot;), it is Scott's first contemporary film and his debut in the thriller genre. Since another contemporary thriller by Ridley Scott followed two years later with Black Rain, from today's perspective it seems as if this were just a finger exercise for Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia's subsequent excursion into the world of yakuza. This is supported by the impression that Scott is much more interested in the images than in the story and the leadership. It's about creating atmosphere. Supported by cameraman Steven B. Poster (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales, Rocky V), he knows how to indulge in lavish glossy pictures, in keeping with the glamor world in which the film takes place. The second comparative film is Peter Weir's “The Only Witness”. It was released around two years earlier and became one of the most successful films of the year. Weir is also about a police officer who has to protect a murder witness and falls in love. This also goes together with a clash of two worlds. There the modern world against the agricultural life of the Amish people, here the glamor world of the rich against the simple life with little money. &quot;The man in the background&quot; was therefore exposed to the charge of being a quick attempt to get a piece of the cake. Even if the focus is different, Scott does not manage to brush this accusation aside with the continuation of the film.



The weighting of the &quot;thriller&quot; is surprising. Much of the game time is spent exploring the differences between the two worlds Detective Keegan now finds himself in. The second focus is the love triangle story and only then comes the actual thriller, the weakest and worst executed part of the film. Anyone who has seen more than a handful of genre films will not find it difficult to see the developments in advance. And protagonist Keegan has just been promoted to detective, but not new to the police. It is all the more surprising that he behaves as if he had come straight from the police school and had not paid attention there. That makes it unnecessarily easy for the killer.



Even if it is actually pointless to try the comparison with “Black Rain” again, this comparison shows the weaknesses of “The Man in the Background” best. watch full tv series online B.


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