Power
Short description
Pete St. John is a political consultant who sells candidates to the public the way other people sell products. When his friend and client, Ohio senator Sam Hastings, decides to leave politics, Pete is drawn into the campaign of Jerome Cade, a wealthy and little-known businessman being pushed forward as Hastings's successor. What begins as another well-paid assignment turns into something more dangerous, and Pete finds that powerful interests are at work behind the scenes. The film follows his attempt to work out what lies behind Hastings's withdrawal and the candidacy of Cade, aided by his ex-wife, a journalist.
Sidney Lumet directed, working from a screenplay by David Himmelstein. It was Lumet's seventeenth film as director, following Deathtrap and preceding Running on Empty. Richard Gere plays Pete, with Gene Hackman as his former mentor Wilfred Buckley, Denzel Washington as Arnold Billings, Julie Christie as Ellen Freeman, Kate Capshaw as Sydney Betterman and E.G. Marshall as Senator Sam Hastings. The credited cast runs to fifty-four names.
Released in January 1986, the film had a budget of sixteen million dollars and took about four million at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds a rating of 5.7 from roughly 3,700 votes, and on TMDB 5.9 from around 77 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- During the film's premiere at the 1986 Sundance Film Festival, the projectionist mixed up the third reel of the movie with the fourth. Most of the critics and audience members present did not notice the mistake. Then, one of the filmmakers demanded that the screening be stopped, and a repeat screening was never scheduled. This is the only such instance in the history of film festivals.
- Burt Reynolds was the first candidate for the lead role. He was unable to participate in the film due to an injury sustained during the filming of the 1984 movie 'City Heat'.
- Paul Newman (1925-2008) was intended to star in the lead role, but he asked director Sidney Lumet (1924-2011) to postpone filming by a couple of months. He wanted to focus entirely on his racing career during the summer, and filming would have interfered with his plans. Lumet refused the request.
- Screenwriter David Himmelstein recalled that he once saw a multitude of televisions, all playing campaign commercials for various political candidates. All these commercials seemed identical to him, and he played with this idea in the script.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
