Warren Beatty stars in this cynical political thriller about a newspaperman who finds himself a target of what appears to be a conspiracy. The story arc is somewhat predictable from step to step (the film does indulge in the occasional action cliche now and again, yet executes them with such earnestness and confidence, that it's as if they were never cliches at all), but unpredictable in its final goal. It has a quality I very much admire: that in spite of its unpredictability, when all is said and done, the conclusions could be no other way.