‘Who the hell knows what is the truth and what is a lie?‘
I’ve been watching a lot of Gene Hackman movies since he died and this has confirmed a couple of things. He really was a magnetic, captivating actor who elevated everything in which he appeared, and also, many of the films he graced with his presence were very similar. The Package is a political crime thriller that pairs Hackman with another big hitter in the shape of Tommy Lee Jones. It has undertones of Cold War paranoia and nuclear anxiety. It’s very much a mixture of Hackman’s gritty, grimy ’70s output and his more blockbuster friendly ’90s work. And, as with much of his oeuvre, it’s very watchable…
There is a lot of plot here but The Package is essentially a cat-and-mouse thriller in which Hackman and Jones chase each other across cityscapes and the snowy suburbs. John Heard is there. Dennis Franz shows up and is a delightful onscreen presence as always. It’s all very end-of-the-80s.
Director Andrew Davis has form in this area having also been at the helm for The Fugitive and Under Siege (he clearly loves Tommy Lee Jones), and he proves to be a steady hand here. The action clips along nicely, but it is in the quieter scenes that The Package truly excels. Hackman and Jones share a plane journey. Hackman and Franz reunite over a beer and a milkshake in a bar. I’m not saying the action scenes are pedestrian, but I am saying they are not the thing that makes The Package effective.
There are no surprises here. No alarms. It’s all predictable, but in a comforting way. You’ll be able to tell by looking at the poster if this is the film for you. I enjoyed it without ever falling in love with the damn thing.
