Target (1985)

 

A slightly obscure family drama/Cold War espionage adventure from 1985, Target teamed up Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon as father and son. Filled with twists and turns (although the film offers diminishing returns in the plotting department) it does stand out for its unique approach to familiar material.

We first meet "Walter" played by Hackman, an apparent everyman living in Dallas who manages a lumber yard. His wayward son "Chris" is a college dropout with hopes of becoming a professional car racer. Walter's wife Donna (Gayle Hunnicut) is about to embark on a European trip with a scene suggesting their marriage might be on the rocks. 

Walter and Chris decide to spend time together fishing to mend their frayed relationship until they receive a call from the American consulate in Paris - Donna has gone missing. They catch a flight to Paris and the intrigues ensues. Here the film delivers a twist when its revealed Walter's skills go beyond managing a lumber yard, he speaks French and German and knows his way around Europe. Target is not the fish out of water story the film was leading us to believe. Much to his son's surprise "Walter: was an intelligence operative in his younger days - and that his wife's kidnapping is related to an operation that went wrong. 

From that point on the film follows Walter and Chris through France into Germany, culminating with a climax as, right, you guessed it, in East Berlin. Father and son come to trust each other and discover a a new respect, in the midst of a number of double crossings and harrowing escapes. Government officials are untrustworthy and old intelligence operatives continue to scheme. The politics of the movie land on the side of cynical, even isolationist. America is the safe space, Europeans are dangerous. 

Methodical pacing and erstwhile performances from the two leads keep things moving along. While Target never achieves the heights of Arthur Penn's previous collaboration with Hackman, Night Moves, it does serve as a respectable programmer for those who enjoy 1980s espionage thrillers.