Bailey Henneberg on "The Conspirator"

While an array of national reviewers and audiences have given the death sentence to Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator,” our Greenbelt reviewers seismically disagree! The film might just reveal more about studios, reviewers and moviegoers than they reveal about the movie.

The mob is frequently a miserable test of quality. You may recall, “It’s a Wonderful Life” did a big belly bust in the box office – too gloomy. The masses bristled over why that damned Capra had to be so depressing.

Considering the Wall Street takeover of Hollywood that transformed films from meaningful entertainment into action and voyeurism with minimal dialogue, it’s no surprise that “The Conspirator” goes against what audiences have been conditioned for. The nervy actors talk.

The studios have us well matrixed into their empty-carb feeding tubes with our tastes delightfully coordinated to go with what makes them money.

Since films make a huge chunk of their profit overseas, movies with a lot of dialogue tend to irritate prime foreign audiences, so action and bodies get Walletwood salivating, no subtitles... no translators... cha ching!

What was Redford thinking? If he can’t provide a little soap opera drama or at least some kind of eye-ball rattling action, then he can stop wasting my time. Doesn’t he know there are steampunks to kill on Azeroth!

What troubles me most is that some top reviewers sound just like the mob on this one, getting rabies-foaming about the lack of action and it being preachy. I have to wonder whether a chunk of them didn’t check out each other, so they could decide how to think before penning their bravado.

Bottom line, if you like meaningful dramas and courtroom scenes, go see “The Conspirator” and think for yourself. If you don’t need Hollywood's equivalent of fast food with its accompanying payoff of short drive throughs, greasy fries and corn-fed antibioticized beef, then Redford’s flick may just have you kissing your fingers. Mmmwahh!