True Lies

There are a couple of Arnold Schwartzenegger movies that are often considered to be "the classics". These usually include Terminator Judgement Day, Total Recall, Predator, Commando, and of course, Jingle All the Way. And sometimes, True Lies is included in that.

Now I was never really exposed to Schwartzenegger films as a kid, partly because they were a little before my time, and my parents just didn't have the fandom of Schwartzenegger that I think others did. So now I'm in my twenties and I need to catch up. And like most of the films that I never saw, I come out of True Lies saying, WTF was that?

True Lies follows the story of international American spy Harry Tasker (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger). He works for a fictional spy agency called Omega Sector and is tracking an Islamic terrorist group before they obtain a nuclear weapon (all pre-911, True Lies was ahead of its time).

At the same time, Tasker is balancing his work with his family life as his wife Helen (played by Jaime Lee Curtis) and his daughter Dana (played by Eliza Duska) don't know the truth about what he does for a living.

The movie is essentially James Cameron's take at a James Bond movie with Schwarzenegger as the one man army spy. I guess it fell right in line with the one-man army video game-like movies I've been watching today like Extraction, but True Lies was... unique to say the least.

My biggest problem with this film is that there is a definite tonal disconnect. If you think James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, 90's action, you don't think of international spy Harry Tasker abusing the national security apparatus to spy on his wife who he believes is having an affair with Bill Paxton, but somehow that ended up being the film.

I get that Schwarzenegger had a range where he was involved in comedies like this, but this movie never really decides whether it wants me to take the movie seriously or not.

And I get it, the movie doesn't have to fully be one or the other. It didn't need to be Commando and it didn't need to be Austin Powers. But the movie has hints of both in it and I'm torn on how I really feel about that at the end of day.

It's impressive that I was both laughing and thinking how bad ass it was that Schwarzenegger was chasing down terrorists on a horse and both he and the terrorists take their mode of transportation up an elevator.

I might not just understand 90's action comedies the way I do 80's action comedies. Die Hard is an action movie but it definitely has comedy peppered in so you don't lose the entertaining tempo and the likability of John Mclane. Macgruber is comedy but has over the top action to spoof the action movies its satirizing. True Lies is right down the middle and I'm still not totally sure if I love it or think it's ridiculous.

I mean the great Charlton Heston has an amazing eye patch in this movie and it's played almost 100% seriously!

The movie also takes a pretty big detour about a half hour in. We spend the first half hour or so focusing on Tasker's job as a spy. Then suddenly for at least an hour, its just Tasker pulling spy hijinxs on his wife when he thinks she's having an affair. The main plot is put entirely on hold while Schwarzenegger abuses the national security apparatus and then we're expected to pick it up where it left off like Tasker hadn't spent the last hour just screwing with his wife with the power of the intelligence services of the United States.

True Lies is incredible because its just a time capsule of a time where Arnold Schwarzenegger could do whatever he wanted, James Cameron wasn't obsessed with submarines or blue aliens, and Middle Eastern terrorists were stereotypes that while still not used in a very correct way, had a very different connotation when they were used as the bad guys.

If it means anything, True Lies is the best Pierce Brosnan James Bond film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and if you haven't checked it out, go into it with no expectations and just buckle in for the ride. I haven't even noted half of the crazy stuff that goes on in this movie, but it's definitely a Schwarzenegger classic for a reason.

But those are my thoughts on True Lies. What did you think? How does this movie hold up almost thirty years later? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie reviews as well as random ramblings and attempts at jokes on social media.

Thanks for reading!