Risk
(2000)
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Young Ben Madigan (Tom Long, THE DISH) has just become an insurance adjuster out of a desire to help people. When he joins the firm, however, he falls under the wing of seasoned and unscrupulous veteran adjuster John Kriesky (Bryan Brown). Preying on Ben's naivete, Kriesky embroils him in an elaborate plan to defraud the company and line his own pockets. Making involvement even harder for unsuspecting Ben to refuse is Kriesky's sexy and willing girlfriend Louise (Claudia Karvan, ATTACK OF THE CLONES), a shady lawyer who aids Kriesky in his scam. When Ben finally realizes what he is involved in, he is already in over his head--both personally and professionally. |
The notion of exploiting inexperience for criminal purposes is hardly original and no one has tackled the insurance angle with more intelligence than Atom Egoyan in The Adjuster. But director Allan White's decision to add a little dark humour and saucy seduction to the mix gives this thriller a distinctly noirish feel. The scam is sketchily outlined and the breakneck chase finale feels tacked on. But Tom Long again impresses (after The Dish) as another eager milquetoast, only here he rapidly develops a backbone, as he counters the corrupt schemes of boss Bryan Brown and his shady lawyer lover, Claudia Karvan.