The mutual admiration between actor
Jack Nicholson and director
Michelangelo Antonioni resulted in the psychological drama The Passenger. Nicholson plays David Locke, a disillusioned American reporter who is sent on a grueling mission to North Africa. When he stumbles across the body of a dead man in his hotel room, Locke, long desirous of starting life over again, assumes the corpse's identity. He soon discovers that the man he's pretending to be is involved in espionage activities on behalf of a terrorist group. Making the acquaintance of a mysterious woman (
Maria Schneider), he finds a kindred spirit -- a woman as "lost" as he. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide