Disclosure, 1994

Disclosure, 1994
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Michael Douglas, Demi Moore, Donald Sutherland



Stage: Home theatre



Disclosure in short: With his company about to merge, a happily married and successful computer expert is expecting a promotion. Instead the job goes to a woman from another plant with whom he had an affair in his bachelor days. His new boss, not only dangerously sexy but equally dangerously ambitious, has climbed the corporate ladder by exerting undue influence on the CEO. She apparently tries to pick up where they left off but he just about manages to resist. This liaison is soon revealed to be part of her master plan to consolidate power and use Tom as a scapegoat to cover her technical misdeeds. As his position at work comes under increasing pressure he decides to file charges of sexual harassment. This is the last thing the company needs.


Preps: I can watch this on an very awqward evening, as I am thinking about someone getting on your ass over something you weren't a part of. So it seems a nice suggestion someone from TV has made on my behalf.



Reality: This is an excellent piece on getting hit by your own management and your own boss. It is amazing, how (for a change) a guy gets swollen by system and his own weaknesses. A fine learning point for anyone that gets involved with this kind of deal and needs to know what is he/she fighting against. Douglas here is the swollen man by a woman as a superior. To get weak is one thing, to abuse power, something completely else. Defined by a brilliant Crichton script, the movie has its flow, its protagonists and main message - screw or get screwed. Or put it another way - if get screwed, fight back. Don't be a small ant, be the ant with the attitude. Even though Douglas fights, he simultanously loses the game by losing things he feels dear about. Regardless of the outcome of the dispute he's having with the company, he's unemployable, man with a mark, man that will always wear a shadow, and most important, this despute importantly reflects in his personal life.

How far can the company go to cover up for something and find a guilty person among those that don't know they represent collateral damage? And how many people really have time, energy and money to back it up? Put it on the other side of coin - what is worth more, honor or normal life? And, is the life really normal, if you swallow something like that? A very old and still fresh question, fits perfectly into nowaday environment in business.

My personal rate: 8,0 (solid, straight piece. Will keep you to your knees and with mouth open until its end).


Disclosure on IMDB