Parents' Guide to

Misconduct

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Terrible thriller wastes great actors in a ridiculous story.

Movie R 2016 106 minutes
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What's the Story?

MISCONDUCT is a legal thriller starring Josh Duhamel as Ben, an ambitious associate at a prestigious law firm who's working extra hours while his marriage to Charlotte (Alice Eve) slowly crumbles under the weight of a personal tragedy. Told in a non-linear fashion, the movie opens with the kidnapping of pharmaceutical company CEO Arthur Denning's (Anthony Hopkins) former employee/current trophy girlfriend, Emily (Malin Akerman). Her kidnappers demand a ransom, but Arthur doesn't want to play ball until he's sure she's still alive. In flashbacks, it's revealed that Emily had blown the whistle to her ex-boyfriend, Ben, about a drug study that killed many participants but that Denning covered up in order to push the drug through the approval process. Excited about the prospect of a career-making case, Ben convinces his senior partner, Abrams (Al Pacino), to let him bring a lawsuit against Denning's company. But as the story unfolds, people turn up dead, and others are constantly threatened. It becomes increasingly clear that Ben is in over his head and that Emily may have had ulterior motives for confiding in Ben.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Meandering, derivative, and full of predictable twists, this legal thriller is a waste of the considerable talents of Hopkins and Pacino, who work together on screen here for the first time. At first, the movie shows some promise with its admittedly unoriginal but still compelling plot device of a high-powered master of the universe having his significant other kidnapped for a hefty ransom. But that whodunit is overwhelmed by the connected storyline of Ben using Emily's out-of-the-blue reveal to his advantage to bring a case against a big pharma boss. And then as twists and turns sidetrack more than they reveal, the legal aspect of the drama completely fizzles, without any actual courtrroom theatrics.

Sitting through this meandering mess, you start to wonder what new house, yacht, or project legendary actors like Pacino and Hopkins needed to fund with their acting fees. First time director Shintaro Shimosawa has had a modestly successful career writing and producing, but directing doesn't seem to be his forte, and Simon Boyes and Adam Mason's clunky script did him no favors. There's little to redeem Misconduct, and seeing two of arguably the greatest actors alive play flat secondary characters -- both of whom are old, immoral rich men -- is simply cringe-inducing. Let's hope the next time Pacino and Hopkins share screen time, it's in a project that deserves their talent.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in Misconduct. Is it realistic? How does it compare to what you might see in an action movie? Which has greater impact, and why?

  • Which of these characters (if any) did you end up rooting for? Are any of them role models?

  • Discuss the way women are portrayed in the movie. Is it realistic? Why do you think so many movies are male dominated?

Movie Details

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