Disclosure (1994)

Better Late Then Never

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Disclosure came at just about the right time. Computers and the use of technology such as virtual reality was at its height in the early 90s, as were work place harassment and issues related to that. Certainly in Hollywood it seemed that is all they made and Michael Douglas seemed to have a propensity to choose such scripts where he is falsely accused and framed. Demi Moore is ravishing here and the pacing is really good. The setting used is good- scenic Pacific Northwest as opposed to Los Angeles and New York City. You should watch this film if you haven't already.

Disclosure is a thriller directed by Barry Levinson that stars Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. It is based on Michael Crichton's novel of the same title.The cast also includes Donald Sutherland, Rosemary Forsyth and Dennis Miller.The film is a combination mystery and thriller about office politics and intrigue in the computer industry in the mid-1990s. Also,it includes the issue of sexual harassment.Tom Sanders is an executive at DigiCom, a leading computer software firm. The company is about to launch a new virtual reality-based data storage system that is expected to revolutionize the industry, and Bob Garvin, the owner of the company, is in the midst of negotiating a merger that could bring $100 million into the firm. However, while Tom is expecting a promotion, he discovers the position has been given instead to a new hire, Meredith Johnson, with whom Tom had an affair years ago, before he was married. After her first day of work, Meredith invites Tom up to her office and makes a concerted attempt to seduce him; while Tom doesn't fight off her advances with very much gusto at first, eventually he decides things have gone too far and leaves in a huff. The next morning, Meredith accuses Tom of sexual harassment, and he realizes this was merely a power ploy to get him out of DigiCom for good; Tom, determined to fight, files a counter-suit, which makes him no friends at the company, since rocking the boat too hard could very well scotch the merger.The story takes some clever twists and turns as it develops into a full- fledged psychological thriller that is effective and gripping, if occasionally contrived as a result of over-plotting.The film is genuinely gripping and well-written.As for the performances,Moore makes an awesome femme fatale while Douglas triumps over evil in a big way.But it is a watchable film as well.

By the 1990s when an increasing number of women were filling top jobs in the corporate world, a story about a woman sexually harassing a man became a plausible scenario and the topical and controversial nature of the subject resonated strongly enough with the public at that time to make "Disclosure" a great box office success.Whilst the sexual harassment element of the story was shocking and attention grabbing, it soon became apparent that this was just part of a far larger and more pervasive issue i.e. the abuse of power. In the workplace, where social conventions, various legal constraints and political correctness all come into play, there is still no escape from the kind of management conspiracies, office politics and duplicity which are depicted so effectively in "Disclosure" or the kinds of distrust and paranoia that they can so easily generate.Tom Sanders (Michael Douglas) heads one of the divisions of a Seattle computer company and is engaged in the development of a product which is vitally important to the success of a planned and very lucrative merger with another company. There are some problems with the product which Tom and his team are currently dealing with and are under considerable pressure to resolve.As a result of some changes which are taking place within the company, Tom's confident that he'll be promoted but it soon transpires that he's been passed over and the job has been given to one of his ex-girlfriends, Meredith Johnson (Demi Moore). On her first day in the job, Meredith arranges a late meeting with Tom to discuss his division's work but during their meeting she aggressively tries to seduce him and is furious when, after a considerable struggle, she's unsuccessful.Meredith responds to Tom's rejection by accusing him of sexual harassment and asserting that in the circumstances, there's no way that she'd be able to work with him again. The company want to avoid any publicity that could have an adverse impact on the upcoming merger and so try to get Tom to take a transfer to another job in their Austin branch. He can't countenance this idea because of the negative effect it would have on his career and is in a very tight spot. Help unexpectedly arrives in the form of an anonymous e-mail which recommends that he consult an attorney called Catherine Alvarez (Roma Maffia) who's a specialist in sexual harassment cases.Tom decides to fight back and files a counter-suit. The process he has to go through to achieve justice is difficult and painful but irrefutable proof of his innocence is produced and the company agrees to retain him and give him a pay rise.The relief that Tom feels after being cleared of the charges against him is short lived as it quickly becomes apparent that efforts which were originally initiated by Meredith to make him look incompetent have now drawn wider support and he's being set up to be publicly humiliated and undermined at a high profile shareholders' meeting. The way in which Tom copes with this threat then provides the story with its intriguing conclusion.The events in "Disclosure" all take place within the space of one intense week in which Tom's normally affluent and comfortable lifestyle is disrupted as his disappointment at being passed over for promotion turns into discomfort when he discovers the identity of his new boss and then horror as he's threatened with the loss of his job, his wife, his family and his stock options.The false accusation made against him, the plots to make him look incompetent and a workplace where no one can be trusted, create a climate of paranoia which is reinforced when some of his previous innocent actions are characterised as something more sinister and the support of his colleagues is systematically eroded by those high up in the company structure.Michael Douglas gives a good solid performance as the beleaguered Tom and Demi Moore is marvellous as the cold and cruel villain of the piece. Donald Sutherland and Roma Maffia also stand out in their supporting roles.

One wishes this had focused on completely on his most famous theme -that of sexual harassment and how a man can be deemed guilty in absence of evidence. This is a serious problem and rarely (if ever) dealt with by Hollywood. The scenes involving this are convincing, particularly in the mediations where the chairman sides with the woman (Demi Moore) although the fact she is so sexually attractive makes the basic premise less plausible than it could have been.However the story is hobbled early on by too much 'techy' information and rather arbitrary plot details such as a mysterious email contact and a piece of evidence which magically shows up. It is not really clear why the company is spending so much time and effort trying to get rid of Michael Douglas, especially after the harassment case is settled. This leads to the final 40 minutes which are very clunky indeed. It is here that the 'techiness' really comes to the fore, and at a point when most viewers will have switched off since the real story has finished.The climactic scene in the exec meeting is very unconvincing. A typical Hollywood attempt at a big finale, which falls flat.An uncharacteristically poor score from Ennio Morricone adds to the general mediocrity.