Pursued

Vincent Palmer (Christian Slater), a head-hunter for Fortune 500 companies, will do anything to satisfy his corporate clients. And he does mean anything: When corporate conglomerate Omni Davis expresses interest in the services of one John Blakely (Kevin McNulty), Vincent murders Mrs. Blakely and squirrels away evidence that could frame her husband if he fails to cooperate. His next target is inventor/entrepreneur Ben Keats (Gil Bellows), whose company, Viztrax, has just put an innovative plasma-code tracking device on the market. Resdat Inc. CEO William Carey (Andrew Stevens) is looking for a new chief executive, and wishes he could benefit from Ben's progressive leadership. Ben is loyal to his staff and chief backer, Franklin Westbrook (Michael Clarke Duncan) – who's suffering from a brain tumor – and isn't interested in the barrage of perks Vincent offers. So Vincent turns to dirty tricks, first maneuvering Ben into blaming a security leak on a loyal secretary and then installing his own spy in her place. While spreading rumors at Viztrax that Ben is going to jump ship, Vincent worms his way into the good graces of Ben's wife and daughter. Ben still fails to sign with Resdat, so Vincent follows the vacationing Keats family and ups the ante again: While on a trail ride, Ben takes a tumble from his horse and Vincent abandons him overnight, hints that similar accidents could befall any member of the Keats family. Forced to sink to his stalker's level, Ben goes on the offensive and tries to discover Vincent's Achilles' heel. If Ben is going to extricate himself from the killer deal with Resdat, the pursued will have to become the pursuer.

Screenwriter April cleverly capitalizes on the shenanigans of Corporate America, and she doesn't have to exaggerate much to make them both scary and amusing. The only thing truly improbable about this duel between good (small businessmen, creative personnel) and evil (take-over experts, yuppie sharks) is that good triumphs in the end. leave a comment --Robert Pardi