Total Recall (’90)
“Total Recall” has always had a special significance for me. It was the first R-rated movie I ever went to without parental supervision. I was 13 at the time. No, I didn’t sneak in; my mother bought the tickets for myself and one of my friends while she went to “Bird on a Wire.” Of course, that story points to several issues with the way theatres dealt with the movie ratings system that would make for what is probably a much more interesting essay than this review will be, but my focus for now is the movie itself. This experience wouldn’t have been nearly as memorable if the movie I went to see had sucked.
Suck it does not. This is one of Paul Verhoeven’s best American movies; of course, when you do largely dismissed movies such as “Basic Instinct,” “Showgirls,” “Starship Troopers,” and “Hollow Man” after a couple of powerhouses like this and his 1987 classic, “Robocop,” that feels like faint praise, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say a couple of those were better than some people gave them credit for. That being said, “Total Recall” packs a very, real punch even 22 years later.
Of course, my excitement for the film back in 1990 had nothing to do with Verhoeven or its artistic success. My interests were more, shallow, one could say (let’s just say, three-breasted hooker for the win). Watching it now, it’s plain to see that this is one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best films (and best performances), even if it does resemble a lot of his films of the time in its ultra-violent bloodletting, and that’s all because of Verhoeven directing. The film was originally going to be directed by David Cronenberg, who would have been just as inspired a choice for this twisted psychological, and philosophical turns in this adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s story, We Can Remember It For You Wholesale. I don’t know that he would have rocked the action like Verhoeven does here; in fact, I can all but guarantee it would have been a very different movie than this is.
Verhoeven’s movie starts with Doug Quaid hiking the mountains of Mars, with a beautiful brunette with him. He falls, his mask breaks, and his face explodes. He wakes up in a cold sweat, with his blonde wife (Sharon Stone, in full sex kitten mode) next to him. He wants something more out of his life than a construction job and a beautiful wife. That desire leads him to Rekall, a place that implants people with memories of their ideal vacation. Of course, they don’t actually go to the place, but the memories Rekall offers are very vivid. Quaid decides to go, but when something goes wrong during the implant process, Quaid is set on a path that will question everything he thinks he knows about his life.
Philip K. Dick adaptations by Hollywood are…problematic, to say the least. For every instant classic like “Blade Runner” and “Minority Report” there’s a “Paycheck” or “A Scanner Darkly” that doesn’t really work for people. Then, there are movies like this and 2011’s “The Adjustment Bureau,” which are solid movies, but still feel like there’s something missing in terms of Dick’s writings. Of course, even the instant classics have their detractors. That said, it’s easy to see in even the lesser films why Hollywood digs the legendary writer as a source of material.
Verhoeven is a strong choice for this particular story. As you can tell in some of his other movies, Verhoeven prefers stories that question the very natures of their main characters, and “Total Recall” is no different. This is the most complex character Schwarzenegger has ever played, and because it plays more on his physical prowess than it does traditional “acting” chops, the Governator hits it out of the park, especially when he’s on Mars being chased by a ruthless businessman (Ronny Cox) who owns the planet, and has a secret he wants to keep, and gets involved with the resistance forces led by the mysterious Kuato. He’s aided in uncovering his identity by the tough, beautiful Melina (Rachel Ticotin), who was the woman in his dreams before going to Rekall. Of course, they do, and the answers are pure sci-fi gold in a smart, action-packed movie that holds up better than most of Arnie’s movies from this period. It helps that he had a director just as intrigued by ideas as he is by violence, and how the two can coexist in a story without the bloodletting getting in the way of telling a fascinating tale, and if nothing else, “Total Recall” (aided by Oscar-winning visual effects and a terrific score by Jerry Goldsmith) is definitely that.
