Brando on the American Dream

THE FORMULA (1980)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

It is a shame that "The Formula" doesn't gel because it starts so promisingly and ends so satisfactorily. It is the middle of the picture that falls apart. "The Formula" is a conspiracy thriller that deals with some formula concocted by the Nazis during World War II that could convert coal into synthetic fuel or, if you like, into the most prized commodity of the 20th century - oil. The corporations have had access to this formula for some time but have never made it public, and those that tried were killed.

Marlon Brando plays the head of one of these corporations who has purposely suppressed this formula for nothing other than greed (and to keep tabs on the stock market). George C. Scott plays a Los Angeles detective who finds out that one of his law enforcement friends had been murdered. His friend is a retired police detective who once served in the military during World War II. It turns out that his friend also dealt in cocaine but may have been killed because he knew too much about the secret Nazi formula. In flashback, we see Scott's friend stopping a Nazi commandant who is holding some secret files detailing the formula ingredients. This takes Scott to Germany where he commingles with Nazi scientists, professors and some German mystery woman (Marthe Keller) who is not quite what she seems.

Based on a best-selling novel by Steve Shagan, "The Formula" is at times involving but it is so muddled and laborious that you'll wonder what the big deal is. Scott is seen parading around Germany looking for clues that only make sense to him - we are left in the cold with clinical details about scientific information and formula ingredients. Each time Scott speaks to someone directly involved with the formula, that person is killed by some unseen sniper (though I must add that Scott has no idea anyone is being shot because the killings often happen after he leaves). And throughout the film, we see some mysterious stranger following Scott, though Scott has no idea he's being followed. Is the stranger the assassin? Is the German mystery woman a member of some terrorist organization or does she simply have a thing for Scott's attention, especially when she has nightmares of the Holocaust?

The brightest element in "The Formula" is Marlon Brando's exemplary, restrained performance as the greedy, evil leader of a corporation that profits from oil, and the last thing he needs is to reveal a formula that will help bring down costs. His final scene with Scott is what great studies in acting are all about - play it straight and evoke a subtle touch of humor. Brando makes the scene his own, quoting Thomas Jefferson on how greed leads to a powerful, financially secure nation, not morality. It is such an exemplary scene, so well-shot and acted that it has almost nothing to do with the rest of the picture. The bulk of the film has to do with shadowy witnesses to the formula, and the notion of conspiracy comes to the surface. It leaves your head in the clouds with thin air since it has no sense of suspense or peril. There are too many characters, too much detailed information that leads nowhere. When you can't remember what character John Gielgud played or what his purpose was in the story, you know you are in trouble. As for George C. Scott, well, he knows how to overact and acts as if he's as bewildered about his surroundings as the audience will be. And yet with such a gripping finale, you wish the filmmakers pursued a subject worthy of some scrutiny, some level of surprise. Brando has his own formula down cold - the rest of the movie only wishes it was as good as Brando.