Masterful Movie

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

In 1951, two British diplomats who are actually Soviet spies escape to Moscow indicating British intelligence has been infiltrated at the highest level. Then it's 1961 Beriut. Leo Cauffield (Rupert Everett) and Sally (Sharon Stone) fall in love, and she would leave her husband for him. Four years later, Leo disappears and he's accused of being a Soviet spy. Then she is told that he has gone to Moscow freely.It's a small thing but the movie opening and subsequent text has this computer font. It indicates a 70s motif which clashes with the era of the movie. Then the movie takes too long to get going. This is based on a true story, and the story moves at a pedestrian pace. The dialog is uninspired. As for Sharon Stone, she is miscast in this role. Even thought she has dyed her hair dark, she can't hide her flashy Hollywood persona. The material is there for the taking, but this is not movie for it. The lack of style, ill-fitting acting, and weak dialog all add up to a weak production.

Why was this made? Perhaps because director Marek Kanievska had made 'Another Country' (1984) with Rupert Everett twenty years earlier? This film purports to be a film about the stresses faced by Kim Philby's second wife, Eleanor, in the face of her husband's defection to the Soviet Union from Beirut. (Philby's first wife Aileen is not portrayed.) For some bizarre reason, all the names in this film are disguised. Incomprehensible! Sharon Stone plays Eleanor Philby, and the emotional focus of the film is all about her. Rupert Everett plays Philby (having played Burgess before!), and although he was physically all wrong, being too tall, gangly, and haunted, he does very well. There are countless errors in the film, not least the constant reference to 'Russia' before people were using the name like that. There is a great deal of misinformation about Philby flying around, and this film does nothing to dispel any of it. Many people knew he was unstable, a drunk, a bisexual (hence in those days a security risk), and anything else besides. He was unquestionably protected in his job despite all these drawbacks, which should have disqualified him. After his defection to the Soviet Union, he lived comfortably in a four-room flat (five room flats were reserved for the highest officials), and went to work every day as a Colonel in the KGB. The idea that he was sitting around as a lush wishing he could watch some cricket is misinformation spread on purpose. Philby's coded message which he sent back through an unofficial channel when he reached Moscow was: 'When I arrived here the middle toes of both my feet were black.' Work that one out, John le Carre! This film is entertaining viewing, has a good performance also by Julian Wadham, and whiles away the time, as long as you don't take it as gospel. Since we will never known the real truth about any of these things, one fantasy is probably as good as any other. Though why all the sympathy for Eleanor Philby? I can think of worthier objects of pity for what Philby did to them.

Someone -- director, writer, producer, perhaps all -- are caught with their dialectics down. But where did Sharon Stone fit into this turkey? That black wig was simply awful. The Sharon we love and admire is blonde, blonde, blonde. I got a huge laugh out of the critic who thought those black wigged shots were of different women. I think the wig must have slipped around here and there because she sure looked different from time to time. Sharon may be tired of her Basic Instict fame -- although for the life of me I can't figure out why -- but why on earth did she sign on for this one? And the propaganda! The kindly Soviet officials, the cold and calloused Brits, and the brutal Americans -- that beefy brute with his leather armpit holstered .45 reminded me of a "settler" the US Attorney in San Francisco used to terrify both lawyer and defendant into copping a plea. The guy looked like King Kong, and roared just about as loudly. My poor client visibly quailed. But I just marveled at his performance and said, "No deal. We're going to trial." So the guy went back into his cage. Sharon gets rescued from the CIA/FBI's Kong by his good-cop companion who was waiting just outside the room. Which was just about the only action in this boring mishmash of flash backs and forwards, with only the scantiest of love scenes to remind us that Sharon was once America's premier seductress. Alas.You have to be real old and know a little history to be able to figure out what this one is about but it really isn't worthwhile the struggle. The script was a mishmash, the actors' voices largely unintelligible, the camera work murky, the drama slight, and the entertainment value nil. One can only conclude that someone important in this production was in love with the subject matter.Well, as they say, love is blind.

This film teaches you about love vs life. What is more important to you, serving for cold blooded organization or your family? The film starts brilliantly explaining who Leo is and the real human in him. Leo is a mere person (like anyone of us) who is torn between loyal work and his love. In actuality I think Leo is a classic example to all mankind that love comes before work. Life is as short as the length of this film, hence its best to choose love (in this case Sally). What did Leo achieve? Loosing his family to an honorable award from the Russians. My suggestion to all of you: Please choose your family over work, boss, money, and fame. Begin your choices right, only then will you die happy (unlike Leo).The film has excellent concept of cinematography and film quality. It is shot in the format of old times and the costumes, location sets are perfectly chosen to create the right kind of mood. Sharon Stone is in her best form compared to her previous film "Basic Instinct". If she continues to choose roles such as Sally, then it will lead her to a more professional and recognized acting career.I recommend anyone to watch this film (especially) young hot blooded men in Universities having an ambition in life. This film is deep and hold true to the accounts of Sally and Leo who are inbuilt in all of us. Please do yourself a favor and watch it with your love or your wife/husband.I applaud the screenplay writer and the director.My score 8/10.NEIL BHATIA