The Clint Eastwood ’90s Hidden Gem On Streaming Fans Are Rediscovering

Absolute Power is one of many films produced, directed, and starring Clint Eastwood, as the prolific creator has a known penchant for hands-on filmmaking.

The movie stars Eastwood in the leading role, alongside a laundry list of top-talent performers, including Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Scott Glenn, Judy Davis, Richard Jenkins, and Breaking Bad‘s Mark Margolis.

The film also serves as the final on-screen role of 12 Angry Men actor E.G. Marshall, and contains a gripping performance from Dennis Haysbert, who is best known as the spokesman from Allstate insurance advertisements.

Clint Eastwood’s Absolute Power centers on a master thief named Luther Whitney, who stumbles upon a conspiracy of the highest political office while performing a break-in.

While Whitney is in the midst of a burglary in a billionaire’s mansion, he discovers that the homeowner’s wife has engaged in a sexual love affair with the sitting president of the United States.

After hiding in a bedroom vault that contains a one-way mirror, Whitney watches as the president becomes sexually violent with his mistress, causing her to stab him in self-defense.

The president survives the stabbing, though his secret service agents quickly bust into the room and shoot the woman, mistaking her for an assassin. In a flagrant abuse of his absolute power, the president then instructs his men to stage the scene as a burglary gone wrong, all the while remaining unaware of Whitney’s actual burglary.

Despite Clint Eastwood as Whitney’s ability to escape unnoticed, he becomes the prime suspect for the homicide due to his known talent for stealing from the wealthy elite.

Clint Eastwood’s character first resolves to leave the country and go into hiding, until he sees a televised event in which Sullivan, the billionaire homeowner, is commiserating with the president, complete with a confirmation that Sullivan is a known financial contributor to the campaign.

To clear his name and bring the pair to justice, Whitney chooses to stay and aide the investigation himself, by any means necessary. As Absolute Power continues, a number of additional dramatic twists and turns take place, including the reveal that Whitney has an estranged daughter who agrees to support him in his fight for justice.

Absolute Power concludes in a stunning climax which brings the energy of the film cascading to an engaging shootout as Whitney threatens to unravel the entire political conspiracy.

Though the film received mixed reviews from critics, resulting in a 56 percent critic score from the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, many praised Clint Eastwood’s adept direction skills, as well as the performances from the film’s litany of excellent actors.

The film was able to just barely scrape by financially at the box office, taking in $50.1 million worldwide against an estimated production budget of $50 million.

Of course, these production budgets often fail to account for extracurricular expenses such as marketing, so it is very likely that Absolute Power ultimately lost money for the studio. Regardless, the film serves as a self-contained political thriller which still has plenty to offer film fans to this day, making it the perfect movie for a random streaming binge.

Clint Eastwood followed up Absolute Power with a number of massive critical and box office successes, including 2004’s Million Dollar Baby, 2008’s Gran Torino, the highly controversial 2014 outing American Sniper, and many more.

With nearly seven decades in the film and entertainment industry, Clint Eastwood has continued to make impressive and engaging films that push the cinematic envelope and inspire thought-provoking discourse worldwide.

The director is expected to retire from filmmaking in the near future, as he rapidly nears his 94th birthday.

Eastwood’s latest film, Juror #2, is expected to arrive in theaters sometime in 2024. For those who have not yet had a chance to catch a Clint Eastwood film, you can check out Absolute Power, which is currently available to stream on Max.