True Lies is a 1994 action movie directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Tom Arnold. Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere and Art Malik also feature, and Eliza Dushku makes an early career appearance.

Plot Summary

The movie begins, James Bond-style, as secret agent Harry Tasker (Schwarzenegger) infiltrates the alpine chateau of an international arms smuggler. Harry's mission is to track down nuclear warheads stolen from Kazakhstan. He is aided by his fellow Omega Sector agent, Albert "Gib" Gibson (Arnold), who communicates with him from a computerized van. Inside the chateau, Tasker meets Juno Skinner (Carrere), an antiquities dealer, and the two dance the tango while Harry arranges an explosive escape.

In a twist for an action hero, Tasker has an ordinary home life. His wife, Helen (Curtis), is unaware that her husband is a spy and believes he is a computer salesman. Helen thinks Harry is boring, and their daughter Dana (Dushku), doesn't respect her father.

Working undercover, Harry and Gib contact Juno Skinner at her Washington D.C. office. It turns out Skinner is using antiquities to smuggle the warheads into the United States on behalf of a radical Islamic terrorist faction. The faction's leader, Aziz (Malik), follows Harry and Gib when he believes they are asking too many questions.

An extended action sequence begins as Harry allows the faction members to tail him into a shopping mall. He leads them into a restroom, which is destroyed in the subsequent melee. Aziz flees the battle on a stolen motorcycle, followed by Harry on a police horse. The chase leads into a hotel, where Aziz rides the motorcycle into an elevator. The pursuit continues on the hotel roof, and Aziz escapes by jumping into a swimming pool on the roof of a neighboring building.

Because of this action, Harry is late getting home and misses his own birthday party. To make amends, he visits Helen at her office the next day. He overhears Helen talking with a co-worker about her affair with Simon (Paxton). The subplot that follows (for the next third of the film) involves Harry's use of his agency's surveillance methods to learn more about Helen's liaison with Simon. At first, Harry believes Simon is an enemy agent, but soon discovers that Simon is a used car salesman who pretends to be a spy in order to seduce women. Harry and his team follow Helen to Simon's house, which they raid using SWAT tactics. Helen is taken prisoner and interrogated by Harry and Gib. Under interrogation, Helen admits that she never slept with Simon, but that she craves adventure that she believes her husband can never provide.

Harry gives Helen an assignment he thinks will appeal to her need for excitement. He enlists her in a mock spy operation which leads her to a hotel suite where she performs a striptease for Harry, who hides his face in shadow. Just as Helen discovers Harry through his disguise, the terrorists return. Harry and Helen are taken prisoner.

At the terrorists' hideout, a small island in the Florida Keys, Aziz reveals that his faction has four of the stolen warheads and intends to detonate them. One is armed and set to blow up the island. Harry and Helen manage to escape just as the terrorists flee the hideout with the other warheads.

Once reunited with Gib, Harry coordinates an attack on the terrorist convoy, which is driving up the Overseas Highway connecting the Florida Keys. Two of the stolen warheads are destroyed, while the bomb back at the hideout is allowed to explode relatively harmlessly.

In the finale, Harry goes to the rescue of his daughter, who was kidnapped (offscreen) by the terrorists. This leads to a climactic battle with Aziz's men at the top of a skyscraper, with Harry piloting a Harrier jet through the city of Miami.

The movie concludes "One Year Later..." with the Taskers back at home, though Helen and Dana are now aware of Harry's secret profession. Indeed, Helen has become Harry's partner, as they go off on a mission together. The film ends as the couple dance a tango.

Criticism and reaction

Upon its release in 1994, the film garnered mostly positive reviews and in recent years has become one of the most iconic action films of the 1990s. Its tongue-in-cheek humor and satirical eye made it one of the more interesting films to be made around that time.

James Berardinelli from Reelviews gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, saying "I have yet to decide whether True Lies is a better comedy or action film. It contains heavy elements of both, and plays them equally well. Unlike such failed attempts as Hudson Hawk and Last Action Hero, however, True Lies is a big, grandiose movie that has an immense amount of fun while never taking itself too seriously." and "Speed (which was released in the same year) and True Lies deliver a summer one-two punch that will leave viewers squirming with excitement and gasping for breath."

The movie relies heavily on stunts, often performed by Schwarzenegger and Curtis themselves. It's largely remembered for action set pieces such as a Marine AV-8B Harrier blowing up the Seven Mile Bridge, and Helen being scooped up by helicopter out of a falling car.

The movie is an extended remake of the 1991 French film La Totale, directed by Claude Zidi and starring Thierry Lhermitte and Miou-Miou.

Online news reports quoted actress Eliza Dushku as saying there will be a sequel, True Lies 2, reuniting the original cast and writer/director James Cameron. Director James Cameron originally planned on making a sequel sometime in 2002 (according to MovieHole.net) - but put his plans on hold once the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred in NYC, claiming that "in this day and age, terrorism isn't funny." However, in 2005 both Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron told MovieHole.net that there were plans underway for a sequel once again - and that it would be Schwarzenegger's first starring role following his political career as the Governor of California. Cameron said it ultimately depends on whether Arnold is re-elected as to when the film will be made. So far, nothing concrete has been set in motion - but last year the film temporarily had an entry on IMDb.com, before being removed.

Although the movie received a mostly positive outcome, some critics have accused this movie of being misogynistic with the hero using his agency's resources to stalk and frighten his wife whom he suspects is having an affair. For example, Juno Skinner's early dealings with Aziz show him slapping and berating her for being a woman. The film has also been criticized for its stereotypical depiction of Middle Easterners as violent terrorists.

The movie earned $146 million and $232.6 million abroad, making it third best-grossing movie of 1994, and also a comeback for the action hero following the disastrous Last Action Hero of the previous summer. For her performance, Jamie Lee Curtis received a 1994 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy.

In The Kid & I, Tom Arnold plays an alter-ego of himself that makes a film that is inspired by True Lies.

True Lies has also been spoofed in the 1996 comedy Spy Hard, starring Leslie Nielsen.

Cast

External links

1994 films | Action films | Adventure films | American films | English-language films | Comedy films | Romance films | Thriller films | Films directed by James Cameron | Films shot in Super 35

True Lies – Wahre Lügen | True Lies | True Lies | トゥルーライズ | Prawdziwe kłamstwa | Правдивая ложь (фильм, 1994) | True Lies | 真实的谎言