Tom Cruise's most overt star vehicle revises the classic 1960s
espionage TV series into a convoluted action ride that pretty much
revolves around Cruise's central spy. A generous support cast
including Reno and Rhames add colour to what would otherwise be bland,
faceless action. Director De Palma is fairly anonymous, except for a
crackerjack wire-harness heist sequence that's a masterclass in
tension from Hitchcock's greatest student, but he can't get past the
incoherent red herrings and cross-double-crossing of the dense plot.
Fun but unmistakably corporate film-making.
