A Show of Force is a 1990 thriller, directed by Bruno Barreto

Bruno Barreto

Bruno Barreto is a Brazilian film director born in Rio de Janeiro. He has been making feature-length films ever since he was seventeen years old and remains one of Brazil’s most accomplished and popular directors to this day...

. The film is based on events and theories surrounding the Maravilla Hill case in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 adapted from Anne Nelson's book, "Murder Under Two Flags."

Plot

In 1978, Kate Melendez (Amy Irving

Amy Irving

Amy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...

) is a television news reporter who investigates the mysterious deaths of two radical Puerto Rican

Puerto Rican people

A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...

 activists. The government claims they were terrorists while others claim the two were merely student activists. Despite threats to her own life, Melendez investigates the deaths, gradually leading her to conclude that undercover American agents were responsible for framing the activists as terrorists, and then murdering them.

Cast

Actor	Role
Amy Irving Amy Irving Amy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...	Kate Melendez
Andy García Andy García Andrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...	Luis Angel Mora
Lou Diamond Phillips Lou Diamond Phillips Lou Diamond Phillips is an American film, television, and stage actor and director. His breakthrough came when he starred in the film La Bamba. He earned a supporting actor Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in Stand and Deliver and a Tony Award nomination for his role in The King and I...	Jesus Fuentes
Robert Duvall Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....	Howard
Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...	Frank Curtin
Erik Estrada Erik Estrada Henry Enrique "Erik" Estrada is an American police officer and actor, known for his co-starring lead role in the 1977–1983 United States police television series CHiPs...	Machado
Jorge Castillo	Nestor Chavez