The ads for "Chain Reaction" boasted "All the thrills of 'The Fugitive' and 'Speed." "Premiere" magazine predicted it would make $75million in the U.S. and would be the #8 summer movie in ticket sales. Its screenplay got its origin from Buckminster Fuller's book "Critical Path." The movie included Morgan Freeman, a class act in every movie he has done. Jerry Goldsmith created the soundtrack. The soundcrew had recently completed work on the movie "Independence Day." The credits listed 22 stuntmen. This film had pedigree! Everyone expected a repeat steller performance from the the director, Andrew Davis. Afterall, the plot of CR was very similar to that of The Fugitive: unjustly accused man, running from authorities, betrayed by a trusted friend. Yep, all the pieces seemed to fit.
Well, I would love to meet the physicist who pitched the idea to a studio head: a $55 million action movie centered on extracting hydrogen from water as an alternative energy source. There were warning signs. Mira Sorvino dropped out of the role of Lily Sinclair. There was no Hollywood premiere. The movie's name was changed close to the release date from "Dead Drop", perhaps because of the similarity to the recent Wesley Snipes movie, "Drop Zone." It was suppose to start production in September of 1995, but was postponed until January, just in time to experience a very harsh (-44 degrees) winter in Chicago. That gave post- production little time to finish the movie by its August 2nd release date.
In interviews the stars dropped hints of production problems. The script was almost non-existent and the set was in total chaos. In one interview, Keanu said "everyone was underused and it was underwritten." Morgan Freeman stated "we made it up as we went along." I could tell. Keanu spent most of his time fielding questions about his "Speed 2" decision with the enthusiasm of a checkout clerk bagging groceries. Other times he talked about the Chicago cold, his recent accident, the Dogstar tour, and something called sonoluminescence. Anything but the movie. Morgan Freeman shared with us that his salary helped him buy a boat. Keanu got to keep the 1976 Kawasaki motorcycle used in the movie. I got to keep my ticket stub.
"Chain Reaction" premiered at the #4 spot and lost half its box office the second week as it dropped to #7. Entertainment Weekly listed it as a "big flop" with its $21 million domestic take. Eventually with foreign and video grosses added in, CR made $78.9 million. It failed to capture a video audience when it made its debut at #5 in December of 1996.
So what went wrong? Keanu said "its the hardest film I've ever done." That's okay- its the hardest Keanu film I've ever sat through. One reviewer for CR's video release summed up my feelings after my first viewing: "its a murky conspiracy plot that'll have you rewinding as you try to decipher who's doing what and why." Keanu said in a ET interview that the "story got in the way of the chase." If life is one damn thing after another (or the same damn thing over and over), then this movie was one damn chase after another, with little dialogue or characterization as possible. The character Paul Shannon tells another character, Lyman, that he has "poor impulse control." So does the script. This movie is all about LACK: lack of chemistry between Eddie and Lily, lack of credibility of Fred Ward as a viable FBI agent, or Brian Cox as a really bad guy, or Eddie and Maggie (Joanne Cassidy) as former lovers. And was Paul Shannon a hero or a villain? Which was it? Who cares? the actors reminded me of the zombies in "Night of the Living Dead." Everyone seemed to be going through the motions and picking up the check.
The Baltimore Sun critic summarized CR by saying it was "completely annoying." I would agree, except for one scene. And that's the scene when Eddie discovers two men in the cottage with Lily. Eddie, scared witless, enters the cottage with a gun to confront the men and with Lily's aid, manages to get out alive. It was so opposite Jack Traven's boldness in terrifying situations that I loved it. I also loved the line in response to Lily's question "Is this how you seduce all the girls," Eddie says "only physicists with hyperthermia who are accused of being terrorists." I often wondered how many takes it took to get that right.
Keanu was not in the states when CR premiered. Dogstar had recently released its first CD, Quattro Formaggi (July 16th) and was on a tour with 18 concert dates in 16 cities in Holland, France, Germany, Belgium, Scotland, England, Ireland, Japan, and Taiwan. The tour started July 6th and ended August 6th.
He was out of his leg cast from his May 26th motorcycle accident and ready to take on his next movie premiere: "Feeling Minnesota." Oh boy, just one damn thing after another. How did you respond to Chain Reaction? The balcony is now open.