Disclosure (1994)

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writers (WGA):

Michael Crichton (novel)
Paul Attanasio (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 December 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

sex is power

Plot:

A computer specialist is sued for sexual harassment by a former lover turned boss who initiated the act forcefully, which threatens both his career and his personal life.

Plot Keywords:

Sexual Harassment | Computer | Promotion | Corporation | Seduction

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 28	2:00 AM	BRAVO
Sat. Nov. 28	8:00 AM	BRAVO

Cast

Michael Douglas	...	Tom Sanders
Demi Moore	...	Meredith Johnson
Donald Sutherland	...	Bob Garvin
Caroline Goodall	...	Susan Hendler
Roma Maffia	...	Catherine Alvarez
Dylan Baker	...	Philip Blackburn
Rosemary Forsyth	...	Stephanie Kaplan
Dennis Miller	...	Mark Lewyn
Suzie Plakson	...	Mary Anne Hunter
Nicholas Sadler	...	Don Cherry
Jacqueline Kim	...	Cindy Chang
Joe Urla	...	John Conley Jr
Michael Chieffo	...	Stephen Chase
Joseph Attanasio	...	Furillo
Faryn Einhorn	...	Eliza Sanders

MPAA:

Rated R for a very strong sex scene, sexual dialogue and other strong language.

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Portugal:M/16 | Iceland:12 | Philippines:R-18 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Norway:10 (TV rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:III | Italy:T | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | UK:18 | USA:R | New Zealand:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Annette Bening was originally set for the female lead until she fell pregnant. Madeleine Stowe was then considered before Barry Levinson settled on Demi Moore.

Goofs:

Continuity: The stain on Tom Sanders' tie changes position.

Quotes:

Catherine Alvarez: If you sue, you'll never get another job in the computer business; if you don't sue they'll bury you in Austin. If you sue it's news; if you don't it's gossip. If you sue nobody will believe you; if you don't, your wife won't. They will make your life into a living hell for the next three years until this case goes to trial...

Movie Connections:

Featured in ... A Father... A Son... Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2005) (TV)

Taut psychological suspense, good performances. Didn't like the sci-fi stuff!

Tense thriller mixes legal suspense, gender-role debate and technology-based action, with mixed results. In fact, its all good except for the computer stuff. The firm which the film revolves around is Digicom (a bit too made-up sounding for my liking), a computer technology firm. We're told at the beginning that the firm is developing a new technology, which will be used as collateral in the upcoming merger. They develop a sort of virtual reality file-scanning system, which doesn't make file-searching any easier whatsoever, but is more like an unnecessary toy for show - but it plays a part late in the film that, for me, was my only complaint about the film. All of a sudden, we go into the machine, and it just sticks out like a sore thumb as being totally wrong for this movie - we're in a sci-fi movie all of a sudden. Plus, it was totally unnecessary. In the scene straight after, the character reports what they discovered in the machine, so it was more for show than relevance - but it ends up hurting the consistency of the film for those five minutes.

This film suffers a little from the same thing the Sandra Bullock vehicle The Net suffers from - in hindsight, now that we've all just accepted the internet and computers as a helpful part of our daily existence, all these old fears we had seem slightly silly. Its a bit like looking back at those Y2K scares and thinking how ridiculous we were to be so afraid. Unlike The Net, though, technology-phobia is only in the subplot of this film. Its more about what happens between Michael Douglas and Demi Moore late one night at the office, and what happens afterwards.

Its very wordy - so be prepared for that. A couple of early dialogue scenes should have been rewritten with the dialogue absent, and told with a couple of thoughtful extended shots. But maybe i only think that because i've just gotten into Antonioni. He really makes this movie look reliant on words.

The sex scene is so well choreographed as to feed an entire movie's worth of plot. Its sexy - true, Demi Moore radiates sex appeal like you wouldn't believe - its an incredible scene to watch. But its stict mechanics are also very necessary for the rest of the plot. Its one of the most necessary and justified sex scenes i've ever seen.

Overall, it works. Its a tense thriller with two really incredible performances from the leads. I don't think its an essential movie, and its not particularly pleasant, if that's what you're after, but if you want a good tense thriller (which many of us do), this is worth a rental. Plus, we feel for Michael Douglas and want things to turn out good for him. So in that way, i think it deserves a workmanlike 7/10.