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Power

Power

Drama · 1986

Pete St. John is a powerful and successful political consultant, with clients spread around the country. When his long-time friend and client Ohio senator Sam Hastings decides to quit politics, he is rapidly drafted to help with the campaign of the man destined to succeed him, unknown and mysterious businessman Jerome Cade...

Movie details

Power

“More seductive than sex… More addictive than any drug… More precious than gold. And one man can get it for you. For a price.”

1986 Drama 1h 51m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.9 / 10

Community rating

Pete St. John is a powerful and successful political consultant, with clients spread around the country. When his long-time friend and client Ohio senator Sam Hastings decides to quit politics, he is rapidly drafted to help with the campaign of the man destined to succeed him, unknown and mysterious businessman Jerome Cade...

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Power?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Sidney Lumet

Written by

David Himmelstein

Richard Gere

Richard Gere

Pete St. John

Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington

Arnold Billings

Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman

Wilfred Buckley

Julie Christie

Julie Christie

Ellen Freeman

Kate Capshaw

Kate Capshaw

Sydney Betterman

E.G. Marshall

E.G. Marshall

Senator Sam Hastings

J.T. Walsh

J.T. Walsh

Jerome Cade

Court is in session

Put Power on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.