The Big Brass Ring: Rating: 3h stars

An aspiring politician (William Hurt), caught in a heated Senate race, is confronted by an old mentor who still wields power over him in the form of compromising photographs that may destroy the would-be politician’s career.

The Big Brass Ring (1999)
1999 · R · Thriller
Reviewed March 24, 2007

Based loosely on a plot originally penned by Orson Welles, this movie has lofty aspirations that never quite pan out. The acting and the script are well above par, but somehow the film just doesn’t hang together — I got the distinct impression that it had been carelessly edited, and that some vital information was left on the cutting room floor. I probably wouldn’t have bothered to keep watching this if it hadn’t been for Ewan Stewart, whose Southern American accent was amusingly off but whose aura of quiet menace more than made up for his dialectical deficiencies. Good viewing for Stewart fans; everyone else can take it or leave it.