Managua (Movie Review)

Managua ; c1996 ; Rated R ; 108 min. ; English ; Directed by Michele Taverna ; Written by Andrzej Krakowski. Hampered by an overly complicated and wildly unbelievable script, this now obscure adventure film, set in war-torn Nicaragua, more or less hobbles along, somehow managing to avoid what obviously seems to be the most interesting aspects of any film set there and then, and the lack of direction and the uninspiring performances by some of the actors surely do not help much.

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Amidst a world of money, drugs, contraband, gun-running, cartels, failed diplomacy, political corruption, etc., etc., etc., American war correspondent Dennis Rice (John Savage), dies in Nicaragua, reportedly in a motorcycle accident, while inebriated. His friend –working as a NY-stock broker though in reality undercover operative- Paul Gleason (Louis Gossett, Jr.) is sent by the U.S. State Department, to recover the body; why an agent in the U.S. and not already in Nicaragua, isn’t all that obvious. Once in Managua, Gleason is repeatedly misled by authorities, and is even told Rice has already been buried, before ultimately learning that the corpse has gone missing. He also finds himself in the middle of a civil war, with the Contras knee-deep in cocaine-trafficking. Various unusual circumstances lead Gleason to further investigate, where he discovers that his friend, Rice –conveniently, also an operative from way back in their Vietnam days- may in fact still be alive, may in fact be a double-agent, or may have opted out of his undercover cartel-infiltration assignment, and may have outright defected, now being on the payrolls of the cartel (Rice’s mission, was to make the case that former Contras, now running the current government administration in Managua, are selling cocaine for the U.S. market).

Gleason meets up with Marta Flores (Assumpta Serna), his “deceased” friend’s fiancé, as well as Vince Nichols (John Deihl), a photojournalist who had befriended Rice in Nicaragua. As Gleason’s investigation progresses, he is ultimately targeted for assassination by local Nicaraguan State Security personnel. Gleason has his life saved by Flores, who kills the intending assassin.

Nevertheless, Gleason is arrested, and while imprisoned he is confronted by the Head of State Security, Ramon Barcel (Robert Beltran), who claims he is fully aware of Gleason’s mission in Managua, which he believes is to find and kill Dennis Rice, because his government believes his undercover assignment is not guiding his actions, and that he is in fact a double-agent now fully employed by the cocaine cartel he was sent to infiltrate. Barcel also tells Gleason he has problems far beyond State Security, because he was targeted by cartel assassins who have infiltrated State Security – and by implication, if his friend now works for the cartel, perhaps his friend knew of the attempt on his life, or maybe even played a role in the failed assassination attempt.

Barcel, in an effort to add credibility to his infiltration claims, as well as further his own career, proposes an “exchange” to Gleason: he will free him from jail, in return for Gleason’s assistance in identifying the corrupt State Security personnel – the alleged cartel assassins, who allegedly tried to murder him. Gleason, having little choice, and obsessing with what happened and almost happened to him, agrees to the trade, and is released where he elicits help from Vince Nichols, in search of the illusive Dennis Rice. While still engaged in soul-searching over whether or not his friend might have played a role in the hit on him, as well as wondering if he can kill Rice if necessary, assuming he finds him within the cartel, Gleason tries to understand what could have possibly made the man he once trusted with his life, make a 180-degree turn on so many ideals they once shared. And, all this, along with Nichols and Gleason being caught in the middle of the revolutionary struggle as they pry their way back to Managua.

Once Gleason and Nichols are fortressed in Managua, Flores confesses to him that she is in love with Dennis Rice, though rather inconveniently she is also married to Barcel, and they have a child together. It is when Rice and Flores tried to leave the country, and the outraged Barcel prevented this, that Rice disappeared. Rice manages to identify the cartel-corrupted State Security personnel, but in doing so has further exposed himself to them, and made himself a marked man in the process. Gleason subsequently contacts he and Rice’s once contact at the State Department, Stanley Wheeler (Michael Moriarty), explaining why Rice disappeared – though Wheeler cares little of Rice himself, and much less for his girlfriend and her kid. But, while Rice wants to trade the list of corrupt State Security officials to Barcel in return for the freedom of Flores and her child, Wheeler claims he is not interested in having Rice assassinated, but he is interested in his own trade: the list of corrupt State Security people, in return for visa/exit assistance for Rica, Flores, and the child.

Eventually, Rice and Gleason meet, though they are the target of an assassination squad as they make the return trip to Managua. Rice is wounded, but nevertheless they make the rendezvous point chosen by Wheeler. As this hit fails, Flores has managed to kidnap her child from Barcel, and prepares to meet Rice as Barcel gathers his own squad to prevent their departure from Nicaragua. Flores and Gleason reveal Barcel’s right-hand man as the traitor, using the list given them by Rice.

The premise of the movie is hardly uninteresting. However, it is hard to believe this is the story of a lone scriptwriter, and many times it is as if plot-twists are added not because they improve the story in any way at all, but because someone, somewhere along the editing line, thought another double-cross or stab-in-the-back or the ever-present trist, was an improvement of some sort. The love triangle, if anything, moves the movie along, though it isn’t all that believable, and the actors are less than motivated. Though the subject matter is relevant, he movie passes on the opportunity to address the level of political underhandedness the U.S. government tends to impress on any poor country (perhaps especially, Nicaragua), even though they have ample opportunity, not to mention Michael Moriarty, as an alcoholic Bureau Chief back in the States. This is no “Casablanca” to be sure, and certainly no “Salvador”, nor even “Under Fire”, though you are left with the impression someone thought they were making one of the latter. Though not completely horrible, it is not a particularly good film by any measure, though sadly, unlike so many other truly mediocre projects, with this impressive cast, setting, and subject matter, perhaps it easily could have been.

Note: I saw this film long before my first trip to Managua or San Juan del Sur. The city-settings in the film are now fairly vague in my mind, so I cannot say if the film was actually shot in Nicaragua. The movie is rarely if ever aired on cable tv, and now that I am back in Central America, my video rentals are severely limited, if not non-existent. If anyone knew for sure where this film was shot, I would be interested in hearing of that, either as a follow-up post here, or via private email message.