Wonderful Movie

Very well executed

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Since most of the previous reviews have done a good job of addressing the plot I will refrain from repeating that here. The performances are top notch and the basic premise is very good, but the lackluster direction coupled with an almost laughable musical scoring by John Scott pull the film down. Michael Caine and the supporting cast do a wonderful job with the screen play and are very believable in their roles. I found the pacing and very "British" dialog to be minor issues. The music is another matter. I found it very distracting and to my ears, misplaced and unimaginative. The score brought the film down by several points for me.

TWB exploits modern and contemporary British history. A viewer would do well to first have some understanding of the Suez Incident, Kim Pheby and Company, and the increasing surveillance of the English public. But the film's attempt to indoctrinate are so mawkish and heavy handed that the viewer is left feeling like he/she has just read a middle school social studies text. There's a scene when Caine's character is walking with his son and the latter, under the pretense of dialog, spills out a liberal's editorial column on the problem with national security run amuck. We're asked to accept that Caine's character, an ordinary merchant, would be treated to an audience of aristocratic higher-ups who take the time and risk of explaining their motives and logic. We're also asked to accept that Caine can simply walk into the home of knighted dignitary, cause the death of Sir Whatshisname, then - cut to the next scene - attend's Sir's funeral in state. All this while British national security is murdering its populace for being just looking too suspicious; i.e., just in case. For all the ruckus, there's not an ounce of suspense or tension in this movie.PS/ This is an older film though I regularly get "Not helpful" clicks, obviously from a someone who had something to do with the making of the movie or a die hard fan. I dare you to identify yourself.

...but this movie was saved by Michael Caine (who can make a bad movie watchable) and Nigel Havers as his son... Caine was great as the father trying to find out why his son Robert (Havers) died... His son was an analyst for Britian's GCHQ (the equivalent of the NSA in the U.S)... Through flashbacks, we learn that Robert has stumbled on some activities that British Intelligence would just as soon not have made public, but Robert has a conscience...Good premise and well done... BUT, what really griped me was the ending sequence when Sir John Gielgud was given some lines to say that were lifted almost verbatim from Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (both the book and the Alec Guinness mini-series)... I felt ripped off... This spoiled what was otherwise a reasonably entertaining cloak-and-dagger, paranoia flick...

It was nice to see a film about cold war paranoia that was about the U.K. and not the U.S. Caine is very good, and the script is above average. A good thriller that doesn't resort to inane/unrealistic violence to keep interest.