This movie sure is a whole lot of 90s nonsense.

Rene Russo's character should have been called Studio Note. She is so inconsequential to everything in the film other than to "appeal to the ladies" by giving someone for Eastwood to creepily flirt with. I had to hold my vomit every time they talked.

Malkovich is a pretty solid villain per usual but I'm mostly shook by the fact that this movie 25 years old and Eastwood was even considered old THEN. It's nuts that he's still working. Jury is still out though if I admire or cringe at that fact.

It's odd to look upon this film's story and think of it as quaint by comparison to today's political maelstrom but all things have small beginnings and I suppose this could certainly be considered the beginning of our current American shit storm.

Jason Reitman does his best to pull out every bit of drama from the story and it largely works thanks to tremendous acting work by Jackman, Farmiga, and Simmons. I especially liked his touches of 70s political thrillers to make this feel both wonderfully old fashioned and fresh at the same time.