The Conspirator

THE CONSPIRATOR may have had difficulty at the box office because of the controversy over the use of military tribunals that rings across the media today. But this film, based on fact but altered somewhat for cinematic purposes, deals with probably the first misuse of a military tribunal - the infamous trial of the assassinators of President Abraham Lincoln by a conspiracy of citizens, most especially the non-military affiliated Mary Surratt. James Solomon wrote the story and co-scripted the screenplay with Gregory Bernstein. The director is Robert Redford who manages to give the entire film the feeling of mid-19th century aura - visually and politically - and suggests there is little difference between the approach and consequences of that time and the current management of 'anti-government' prisoners.

The film opens with some scenes from the Civil War battlefield where we meet the severely wounded soldier Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) attempting to save the life of his buddy Nicholas Baker (Justin Long). The film then jumps to the end of the war when the Confederate generals have surrendered to the Union generals and parties are underway. Aiken and Baker have survived and Aiken has decided to pursue law. The President is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth and in the aftermath Booth is killed but it is discovered that there was a plot to kill Lincoln as well vice president Andrew Johnson (Dennis Clark) and secretary of state (Kevin Kline). The response of the nation is terror and the suspects of the conspiracy are arrested and set for trial. The conspirators had been meeting in the boarding house of Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) so the military decides she must also be a conspirator and tried with the others 'to put this madness to an end.' The men in charge of the tribunal include Joseph Holt (Danny Huston) and David Hunter (Colm Meaney). There is one lawyer, Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) who feels that the tribunal is not an acceptable manner in which to try a citizen and assigns the fresh new lawyer Frederick Aiken to defend Mary Surratt. At first Aiken hates his role but as time passes and he gets to know Mary Surratt he is convinced of her innocence and implores Mary (and Mary's daughter Anna - Evan Rachel Wood) to reveal the location of the true problem in their family - Mary's son John (Johnny Simmons). The story features the change of approach of Aiken and the abuse of justice at the trial and the film ends with some very poignant lessons not only about our history but also about our present.

The pacing of the film is slow at times, but the cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel and the musical score my Mark Isham keep the film involving. James McAvoy offers a sterling performance and the rest of the cast is impressive. THE CONSPIRATOR is a healthy dip into our nation's past and makes us more alert to our nation's present.

Grady Harp