# Golden Gate (1994)

### reviewed by
James Berardinelli

                                       GOLDEN GATE
                           A film review by James Berardinelli
                            Copyright 1994 James Berardinelli

    Rating (Linear 0 to 10):  6.3

    Date Released:  1/28/94
    Running Length:  1:32
    Rated:  R (Violence, language, sex, discreet nudity))

    Starring:  Matt Dillon, Joan Chen, Bruno Kirby, Tzi Ma, Stan Igi,
               Teri Polo
    Director:  John Madden
    Producer:  Michael Brandman
    Screenplay:  David Henry Hwang
    Music:  Elliot Goldenthal
    Released by The Samuel Goldwyn Company

During the 1950s, the FBI relentlessly pursued "communists" of all sorts, and guilt or innocence was rarely considered. In San Francisco, the investigations spread into Chinatown, where suspected sympathy with a Marxist home country bred suspicion among authorities. GOLDEN GATE attempts, with limited success, to present the tragic consequences of adhering to law at the expense of justice.

In 1952, Kevin Walker (Matt Dillon) and his partner Ron Pirelli (Bruno Kirby) are the new "bright boy" G-men, stalking San Francisco, looking for communists. Along the way, Kevin picks up a beautiful blond girlfriend (Teri Polo), who agrees to remain faithful for as long as he places justice above the law. And, while this may be Walker's intention, it doesn't last long in the face of reality. J. Edgar Hoover demands convictions, and Kevin has to deliver, even if it means trumping up conspiracy charges to put an innocent Chinese laundryman behind bars.

Ten years later, Chen Jung Song (Tzi Ma), the man jailed as a result of Walker's investigation, emerges from prison to find that his community no longer needs or wants him. Recognizing the damage he has caused, Walker attempts to make amends, but with disastrous results. Later, still trying desperately to assuage his guilt, he contrives to meet Song's daughter Marilyn (Joan Chen) by telling her lies designed to gain her trust. Their friendship quickly blossoms into love, but Kevin's cover story is riddled with holes, and it doesn't take long for Marilyn to discover the truth.

GOLDEN GATE is clearly divided into three acts. Considering that its author, David Henry Hwang, is best known for his elegantly-constructed stage play M BUTTERFLY, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Respectively, the three portions of the movie take place in 1952, 1962, and 1968.

The 1952 segment almost seems like a self-parody. The G-men are portrayed as stereotypical and almost DICK TRACY-like: absorbed with themselves and expecting everyone else to be. Elliot Goldenthal's mock "heroic" score furthers the impression, as does some inventive photography by Bobby Bukowski. Walker's girlfriend Cynthia is a cipher for his own conscience rather than a real flesh-and-blood woman.

The switch to 1962 is therefore jarring, when the presentation of the subject matter becomes serious. GOLDEN GATE's second act examines issues of racial prejudice and how some wrongs, once committed, can never be righted. There's a sense of impending doom about the relationship between Walker and Marilyn, and it's a question of "when," not "if," the truth will come to light.

The final act is something of a cop-out, resorting to formula resolutions of certain plot threads. Unlike Walker and Marilyn's relationship, which is developed in a believable fashion, the new romance introduced in GOLDEN GATE's waning scenes lacks credibility. And the last scene, while highly symbolic, is a mistake made worse by Joan Chen's voiceover, which carefully explains the spiritual significance of what happens.

In playing a flawed protagonist, Matt Dillon has a difficult task, but he acquits himself admirably, involving the audience in his increasingly- tormented life. From the film's early scenes, when the script calls for a cartoon-like G-man, Dillon has no difficulty slipping into director John Madden's flow.

Joan Chen gives a solid performance in a role that isn't particularly well-developed. Exotic and sultry, and appearing far more youthful than her actual age, Ms. Chen surmounts the limits of Hwang's script. It's easy to see how Walker, with his broken conscience, could fall for her.

John Madden, who last year brought to life a dark, moody adaptation of Edith Wharton's ETHAN FROME, shows some of the same tendencies here. In spite of the uneven tone of his film, the sense of atmosphere is consistently strong. The sense of place, cemented by various shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, is never lost on the viewer. Visually, this is a well-shot motion picture.

Alas, the sudden shifts in mood, and the unwillingness of the screenplay to develop in a more original direction, hamper GOLDEN GATE. The movie has themes to explore, and it holds the audience's attention while doing so, but there are flaws that even all the fog of the Bay Area can't conceal.

- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)

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