Former "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe defies typecasting as a young wizard with his gripping portrayal of an undercover FBI agent in freshman writer & director Daniel Ragussis' "Imperium," based on the exploits of retired Special Agent Mike German who collaborated on the screenplay with Ragussis. For the record, German's days as an undercover agent occurred during the 1990s. Ivy-League, wet-behind-the-ears, bespectacled, FBI agent Nate Foster is participating in the eternal war against terrorism when he learns that there are more than enough homegrown terrorists infest the domestic borders of America to keep the Bureau sweating. A mild-mannered, immaculately attired FBI agent with far more sophistication than some of his colleagues, Foster catches the shrewd eye of Nicorette gum-chewing FBI agent Angela Zamparo (Toni Collette of "The Sixth Sense") who recruits him to infiltrate white supremacist groups. Nate's FBI superior Tom Hernandez (Nestor Carbonell of "The Dark Knight") warns Nate that undercover work is a one-way ticket to oblivion. Nevertheless, our hero changes his name from Nate Foster to Nate Thomas and then sets out to infiltrate homeland terrorists. Despite his woeful lack of knowledge about undercover work, Zamparo gives Nate what she considers the best primer for working undercover: Dale Carnegie's bestseller "How Win Friends and Influence People." Nate gives himself a buzz-cut to acquire the appropriate look before he plunges into deep waters of white supremacy. Initially, he insinuates himself into the lower echelons of white supremacists: the Aryan warriors. Later, he meets one of the white supremacists, a suburban husband and father Gerry Conway (Sam Trammel of HBO's "True Blood"), isn't the typical skin head covered in tattoos. Conway appreciates the finer things in life, like classical music, and he grows to trust Nate. Meantime, Nate must contend with some of the more violent examples who storm around with their heads shaved and wear uniforms adorned with swastikas. After the rougher variety of supremacists grow wary of him, Nate aligns himself with Conway, and they barely have enough time to thwart Conway and his people.
The problem with Ragussis' "Imperium" is that it lacks cinematic magnitude. The investigation and the consequences appear minor in comparison with other FBI movies where agents take down conspiracies that are truly massive. Instead, "Imperium" amounts to a small fry case. Nevertheless, Ragussis opens this serious-minded epic with surprising quotation attributed to none other than Adolf Hitler: "Words build bridges into unexplored regions." Indeed, Regussis gets our attention with this quote, and then he begins to craft what appears to be a genuine sizzler that fizzles by fade-out. Mind you, the production values are solid, and the cast is convincing, but everything comes off being just a little too subdued in terms of cinema. Make no mistake, Radcliffe is very persuasive as Nate, and he hurled himself whole-heartily into the role. Sadly, "Imperium" doesn't deliver the kind of wallop that Radcliffe delivers his own performance. In all fairness to Ragussis, he has written an intelligent script, but his protagonist has way too much ease penetrating these haters, and then out of nowhere the rougher variety come to regard him with suspicion so he bails. The moment that he decides to pull out is the moment when Conway accepts him without a shred of doubt. "Imperium" qualifies as an above-average thriller with loads of interesting backstory that doesn't ignite with the kind of incendiary brilliance that you feel it was capable of without overtly forsaking its 'inspired by true events' labeling. If you cannot handle the use of obnoxious and hateful epithets, particularly the N-word, you might reconsider watching this movie.
