Absolute Power (1997)
Actors:
Yau-Gene Chan (actor),
Eric Dahlquist Jr. (actor),
Clint Eastwood (actor),
Scott Glenn (actor),
Gene Hackman (actor),
Ed Harris (actor),
Robert Harvey (actor),
Dennis Haysbert (actor),
Richard Jenkins (actor),
Mark Margolis (actor),
E.G. Marshall (actor),
Charles McDaniel (actor),
George Orrison (actor),
Jack Stewart Taylor (actor),
John Lyle Campbell (actor),
Plot: Based on the novel by David Baldacci, Absolute Power is about the ruthlessness of people in power. The President believes that everything he does is beyond reproach, including an affair or two. That leads to murder and everyone around him is involved. There is only one witness, a thief named Luther Whitney. They are sure he'll talk, but when? The Secret Service is determined to keep him quiet, but catching a thief isn't always easy.
Keywords: 80-year-old, adultery, airport, ambush, answering-machine, answering-machine-message, anti-hero, apartment, arrest, art-gallery
Genres:
Action,
Crime,
Drama,
Thriller,
Taglines: Corrupts Absolutely.
Quotes:
[Collin, disguised as a doctor, tries to kill Kate with an injection; Luther, also disguised as a doctor, comes up behind him and jabs a syringe into his neck]::Luther Whitney: Dr. Kevorkian, I presume? My guess is this is right in your carotid artery about now. You're gonna get a little woozy. But if I give you the rest of this, it's gonna fry your brain down to the size of a peanut! Drop that.::[Collin drops the syringe, and Luther eases him down to the floor]::Tim Collin: [whispering] Luther, he's my president, right or wrong.::Luther Whitney: Well, he made a mistake. *You* made a mistake. When you went after my little girl, that was *entirely* unacceptable.::Tim Collin: [pleading weakly] Mercy.::Luther Whitney: I'm fresh out.::[Luther plunges the injection into Collin's neck; Collin groans as he dies]::Kate Whitney: [starts waking up in hospital bed] Daddy?::Luther Whitney: [softly] Go to sleep, darling.
[after seeing a smiling/lying Alan Richmond on TV]::Luther Whitney: [snarls] You heartless whore! I'm not about to run from you.
Luther Whitney: [seeing a Alan Richmond conference on TV] Turn that off.::Airport Bartender: In just a second. [prepares Luther's drink, and as Luther seems to really stare at it, the bartender turns the TV off]::Luther Whitney: On second thought, turn it back on.::Airport Bartender: But you just said...::Luther Whitney: Yeah, yeah. I know what I said.
[upon seeing Seth arrive]::Luther Whitney: So, do you want my signed confession now, or after coffee?
[after the restaurant shooting Luther's disguised as a cop]::Luther Whitney: All right. Calm down. Let's not lose our heads. Everyone remain calm. [turns to camera to reveal that he's disguised and then exits through the back door of the restaurant]
[Luther, disguised yet again, goes up to the entrance of the Watergate Hotel]::Luther Whitney: [holds up a package] For Gloria Russell.::Watergate Doorman: Do I have to sign anything?::Luther Whitney: [walking away] No, you have an honest face.
Bartender Red: Your life could be a whole lot simpler if you could learn to operate a VCR.::Luther Whitney: Truer words were never spoken.
Luther Whitney: You're the only family I have.::Kate Whitney: Luther, you don't have me.
Walter Sullivan: I don't yet know who it is I'm after. Until I do, you'll have to wait in Washington for instructions.::Michael McCarty: I'm afraid that's out of the question. Mine is not particularly creative work, and I do it only because I enjoy living beyond my means. I can't afford to just sit around.::Walter Sullivan: My father died when I was nine years old. He was a miner. He died of lung disease. I became rich at twenty-five, and the first thing I did was to buy that mine, close it down, and give every miner fifty thousand dollars to retire on. You *will* wait in Washington, Mr. McCarty. You *will* choose a penthouse suite, and I *will* put one million dollars into a Swiss bank of your choosing. And when the time comes... two million dollars a bullet.::Michael McCarty: ...You are a salesman, sir.::Walter Sullivan: Selling sin is easy.
Luther Whitney: I've got to go have my pacemaker checked, it has been so exciting talking to you.