Absolute Power
Unclear and Present Danger - A podcast by Jamelle Bouie and John Ganz
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In this week's episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Absolute Power, the 1997 conspiracy thriller directed by Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by William Goldman and based off of a David Baldacci novel of the same name. In addition to Eastwood, Absolute Power stars Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Judy Davis, Scott Glenn and Dennis Haysbert. In Absolute Power, Eastwood plays Luther Whitney, a master thief who makes the fateful decision to rob billionaire Walter Sullivan, a close friend and ally of the president of the United States. During the burglary, Whitney sees President Alan Richmond assault Sullivan's wife, Christy, with whom he is having an affair. When she fights back, the president's security detail kills her. Sullivan, who witnesses the altercation, escapes with evidence of the killing. When he becomes prime suspect in an investigation led by local police, Whitney devotes himself to exposing the president's misdeed while evading Sullivan's hired assassin — who believes Whitney is responsible — as well as a secret service agent who wants to silence the only witness.
