F/X - Murder by Illusion, A Review
Director Robert Mandel's Superb 1986 Thriller
The 1986 film F/X, starring Bryan Brown, began life as a first-time writers' dream that seemed destined for TV movie mediocrity, but became a thriller par excellence.
A Very Special Idea
From the germ of its conception, F/X had problems getting onto the screen. The original idea by debut scriptwriters Gregory Fleeman and Robert T. Megginson was an intriguing one, that of a special effects expert being employed to fake a murder that turns out to be real. In a film that relied so heavily on special effects not just to be spectacular, but also ingenious, finding someone who could pull the technical strings off-camera was as crucial as finding actors for the lead roles. John Stears had previously worked on eight of the earlier James Bond films, as well as winning two Academy Awards for Visual Effects, one of them for Star Wars Episode IV : A New Hope, and he was duly hired.
Different Direction
Director Robert Mandel was recruited specifically for his theatrical experience by Jack Wiener, the film's co-Producer, who did not want to simply employ an 'action movie' Director. This was seen as a move towards independence of genre rather than pigeon-holing the movie into the Action bracket. But the creators were unsure over the name of the film itself. Eventually settling on F/X, a film industry term for the Special Effects directions within a script, the title was later given the suffix 'Murder by Illusion', because the title being just two letters was believed to be detrimental to the film's box-office success. The late Dodi Fayed was the film's other co-producer, and of the many various projects his name was attached to, F/X is widely believed to have been his greatest success.
Special F/X lie in the Characters
The plot centres around Rollie Tyler, a special effects maestro whose talents in Hollywood attract attention from the Justice Department, who wish to stage a fake murder. The intended target is mob-informant Nicholas DeFranco, brought to life by the late Jerry Orbach, most famous as Lennie Briscoe in the television series Law and Order. Leo McCarthy is the irascible detective who refuses to let go of the DeFranco case, a criminal he had tracked for years before the Justice Department took him away. McCarthy is played admirably by the accomplished Brian Dennehy, whose character bristles with a permanently hungover wit. Bryan Brown, who plays the lead role of Tyler, delivers a career-defining performance as the fall guy determined to clear his name and expose the perpetrators with the use of his trusty special effects. Also notable for her luminescent, if brief, portrayal of Rollie's girlfriend, Ellen, is Diane Venora, indeed, the film has a consistency of performance amongst its cast that many heavier dramas would covet.
Setting the Tone
F/X is action-packed with an intensity below the surface that represents the vengeance of Rollie Tyler, a man driven to atone for the tragedies which befall him in the first act of the film. Crucial to the setting of the movie's tone is the soundtrack, by Bill Conti, a highlight of the film. Conti's work, as varied as perhaps any composer, ranges from the jocular Octopussy (1983), through the Rocky films and up to F/X, his undoubted meisterwerk, in 1986. The composition of strings and woodwind doesn't just help build the tension; in some scenes, it is as much a character as the ones playing on the screen.
The Magic Goes On
22 years on, F/X has huge resonance in its genre, and spawned a successful sequel, F/X 2: The Deadly Art of Illusion, in 1992. The originality of F/X itself has lived on two decades later, and continues to enthral a new generation of audiences on DVD.
