The greatest movie ever made..!

the audience applauded

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

F/X was an unexpected surprise for me. I found the title late one night, and the description drew me in immediately. I don't know of any other films with a special effects guy in the lead and I can guarantee there aren't any about said special effects guy faking a murder and being caught up in the subsequent fallout. The direction from Robert Mandel was sharp and intelligent. I enjoyed his use of longer shots, and the special effects of the movie itself still held up decently today (can't say that for much of the 80's). Mandel kept the action taut, and the suspense high. Performances in the film ran both ends of the spectrum, Megginson carried the movie well as the slick and clever Rollie. I found him to be a much more effective physical actor than an emotional one. Dennehy gave a great performance of a "cop on the line," and became the one I really rooted for during the film. On the opposite end, Rollie's right hand girl Andy (played by Gehman) was poor, some of her lines were painfully delivered.F/X took a novel idea and turned it into a great suspense film. This could have easily turned out into a spoof or a comedy film, but it was a wise choice to keep it earnest and visceral. This is on my short list of top suspense films for sure.

Roland Tyler (Bryan Brown) is a movies special effects master. One day, he's contacted by justice department agents to fake an assassination of a mobster. When the job was done, he finds the people who hired him are now trying to hunt him down. Now he must use all the tricks of his trades to survive. Investigating all the killings is no nonsense Lt. Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) who is just starting unraveling the tangle of corruption.The only thing that concerned me were the red flags that Roland passed right thru. It seemed kinda naive for Royland not to notice that he was paid in cash, and the hit was in public with his face uncovered. You'd think he was smarter than that. But then John Chambers helped out a CIA operation. It's not unheard of. The bits and pieces of special effects insights were fascinating especially for its times. Brian Dennehy and Bryan Brown are great actors. They're able to put believability into this film.

A clever idea becomes, under director Robert Mandel's pedestrian supervision, a mechanical thriller able to stay one short step ahead of the viewer. The best way to appreciate it (and this is obvious very early in the film) is to simply throw disbelief to the wind and settle back to enjoy watching movie special effects (F/X) wizard Bryan Brown use his trade to evade corrupt government agents who want him dead to remove all evidence of…but why go on? None of it makes any sense, least of all the incongruous aerial tour of the Swiss Alps over the end credits. But the film is quick, has an engaging protagonist, and features reliable scene-stealer Brian Dennehy in the requisite cop role. If it all seems a shade too conventional just remember the telltale exchange of dialogue in the opening scene, when Brown's actress girlfriend sighs, "No one wants to see movies about people anymore…" You don't say.

F/X is a fun film concerning a special effects expert who is hired by the CIA to supervise a sting operation concerning a slimy crime boss. Unfortunately for him he's being set up as the patsy in a plot by the law officials themselves.Good story in an entertaining thriller that doesn't take itself too seriously and throws in a lot of humorous situations to lighten the mood. Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy are old pros who could sleepwalk through roles like these and their presence gives the film added value. Jerry Orbach is always fun to watch and he delivers in the bad guy role. The script is well written and original, the movie is fast paced and suspenseful and wickedly funny at times. It's not hard to recommend this film.