We know that bad things happen and we get treated like mushrooms, but most of us probably prefer not to hear the all truth as it maybe too uncomfortable for us to accept. In this film which takes place in Puerto Rico,two young men are shot dead by the police because they where supposed to be terrorists who where planning an attack. In truth, this was not the case and reporter Kate Melendez played by Amy Irving sets out to prove that the two young men had been murdered. Kate who is the sort of Journalist who "Will not drop the case" even if she herself is in danger is played pretty well by Amy, but Lou Diamond Phillips takes the acting honours as Jesus Fuentes the police undercover agent. The film boasts a good cast which includes Robert Duvall, Kevin Spacey and Andy Garcia who sports a huge black beard which almost covers his entire face. I never really felt that the film dragged although there is not a lot of action in it. An interesting movie yes, but not I thought a particularly memorable one.

A Show Of Force is a fictionalization of an actual incident that took place in 1978 in Puerto Rico. At that time on Puerto Rico's Constitution Day, the police allegedly shot and killed two Independista Terrorists who were planning a big attack, one that would arouse the Puerto Rican people to revolution.It was a great deal less than that in the sense that all that was planned was on that Puerto Rican holiday, the 'terrorists' were planning to seize control of the broadcast tower of the main Puerto Rican television station to broadcast a message favoring independence. In fact the whole thing was organized by an undercover police infiltrator in the cell.All the names in A Show Of Force were changed as they used to say on Dragnet to protect the innocent. In fact whole new characters were created for this story including investigative television reporter Amy Irving, a woman from the States who married and was left a widow to a prominent lawyer for the Independence movement.The Puerto Rican independence movement has its followers to this day and certainly only a fraction of them would be using terrorist tactics to gain their objective. Back in the Fifties it certainly got a bad name with the American public with the 1950 assassination attempt on President Truman and the later 1954 shooting at the House of Representaives where five members of Congress were wounded.In fact Puerto Rican politics ever since 1898 when the USA took Puerto Rico almost as an afterthought from the Spanish American War has been divided along that issue into three parts. Those who want to retain the Commonwealth Status the island has now, those who advocate for admission to the USA as a state, and those who want independence. The fear of independence during the Cold War was the exaggerated fear that Puerto Rico would become another Cuba. I think it was sheer paranoia, but a lot of folks believed that, hence the issue and the creation of these straw man terrorists.There was indeed an investigation by the Puerto Rican Legislature as shown here and indictments were brought forth against the police officers who committed the homicides.A really good cast was put together in support of Amy Irving that included Robert Duvall, Andy Garcia, Priscilla Pointer, Joseph Campanella, and Kevin Spacey as the FBI man who was the alleged puppet-master. One character that was genuine though his name was changed in the film as all the others were was the police agent provocateur played by Lou Diamond Phillips. His is the performance that really carries the film. Lou manages to look incredibly sexy in those Seventies fashions and dangerous as well. His is the pivotal character in the film, his scenes with Amy Irving crackle with both hate and sex at the same time.I did a little research and found that some ten years after the incident at Cerra Maravilla, the real man on whom Phillips's character is based was shot to death by person or persons unknown. But it is presumed that Independista sympathizers did the deed in revenge for being set up as they were. Normally I don't favor these kind of things, but I think some justice got done there.The film was shot entirely in Puerto Rico at the places and locations of where things actually took place. I happened to visit there in 1983 and I recognized any number of scenes in and around San Juan. A Show Of Force is far from accurate, but it does give you a good background as to the incident Cerra Maravilla in 1978 and the politics surrounding it.

While 'A Show of Force' portrays fictional characters, the movie is based an actual cover-up of the shooting deaths of Carlos Soto Arrivi and Arnaldo Dario Rosado at the Cerro Maravilla mountain July 25, 1978. The scheme was concocted by the Puerto Rican Govenor, Carlos Romero Barcelo (who was elected as a result of the events), and United States FBI to throw political support for the governor during the election year. The justification was that the United States supported Barcelo's Anti-Communist views. Thus, Puerto Rican policeman and FBI agents shot to death two members of the Independence Party who sided with the views that Puerto Rico should become an Indepenent country rather than remain a U.S. Commonwealth or become a 51st state. With the help of local policeman and political initimidation, the two men were made out to be terrorists, and the Governor and the policeman that he said should be regarded as "heroes" were able to make it look like they were protecting the people. Sound familiar? The story is told primiarly from the point of view of the reporter who risked her job and her life to cover this story. Amy Irving portrays reporter Kate Melendez who was able to get the hearings publicized and was willing to continue with the story when all other reporters (and the public alike) considered it old news. Quite possibly, it was Melendez's husband, a lawyer for the Independce movement, and his activism that helps her maintain her conviction in going to all lengths to uncover the truth. The movie, however, doesn't create much of that gripping suspense as other political thrillers do. This one is more dramatic and less suspenseful, though Melendez does encounter quite a bit of hostility and threats from those who do whatever they think will keep her from pursuing the investigation. It appears more realistic, not full of high action car chases. Actually, even though they were so sleazy and corrupt, Melendez's hostile adversaries are surprisingly more diplomatic than would be required of them had this been a big thrills political thriller. And that keeps from detracting from the story at hand, because why shouldn't it? Afterall, they're making a point about an actual historical event. I think, despite the movie dragging along at certain points, it is a pretty decent movie worth seeing if political dramas are what you're in the mood for.

This movie was an attempt to portray actual events, but it fictionalized the story and the locales so much that it detracts from the movie. In addition is what I perceive as the pro-nationalist slant of the script.All in all, the movie presents great examples of early work by Andy Garcia, Lou Diamond Phillips, Kevin Spacey and also has Robert Duvall.If you can stand the inaccuracies, watch it for the cast of then future stars, and for Robert Duvall in a solid supporting role.