Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

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.

The Whistle Blower is not generally a great favourite of the critics, and is one of those small budget films that BBC2 used to show late at night - a typical Caine schedule filler, in fact. I recall seeing the movie some time in the early nineties, but to be honest I have always been fond of it. Caine's performance here is brilliant, and if this movie really is classed by many as one of those typically weak eighties Caine features, then surely the critics will acknowledge that in the bulk of those films, a fifty-something Caine was pretty much without blame. The most powerful example of this is when Caine is informed of the sudden tragic death of his son. As he plays a hard edged ex-serviceman, he is of course made of the proverbial stiff upper lip, but his reaction to the untimely news about his loss is a real lesson in reaction acting, which Caine has always favoured over the years. I always liked the parts Caine played throughout his fifties - I felt he displayed a real maturity and as an actor appeared to reach the peak of his career. I suppose this is why it's even more impressive that he continued - if not bettered - that fact in his sixties and seventies. So, this is typical eighties-Caine territory. Low budget British movie peppered with familiar faces from the British acting fraternity, all of them seemingly amazed at the chance to appear in a proper movie alongside the guv'nor. Set and filmed around Cheltenham, Caine really does carry this movie. Nigel Havers (as Caine's son) looks like a Harry Palmer love child, but is not challenged in his role, whilst Gordon Jackson and James Fox stereotype their way through the picture as high ranking secret servicemen. John Gielgud and Kenneth Colley are also used sparingly, but such is the quality of the supporting cast, they all beef up what could easily have been a terribly dull escapade. And let's not forget Barry Foster, 'victim' of being done up like a kipper by Caine in one of the infamous 'drunk' scenes. By 1986, no-one played drunks better than Caine, and he seemed to be so good at it that a number of his movies became worth watching just for their scenes where he successfully played a character pretending to be drunk one minute then stone cold sober the next. He pitches his performance perfectly here, and fortunately everyone seems to deliver - the potential pretentiousness (that doesn't roll easily off the tongue) of the movie is identifiable in most scenes - like quiet flames licking their way at the edge of each frame, but the calibre of the Caine inspired cast make this film easy on the eye. True, there are some highly corny moments, and many spy clichés are rolled out mercilessly (usually involving a traitor declaring his love for Russia) but the chief protagonists are clearly giving it their all, and I just happen to like this movie a lot. I think it's really because Caine is so accomplished at his task, that his confidence on screen carries you with it, and whilst it's obviously made on a budget of about eight quid, that still doesn't mean it can't deliver.

Alhough not a Len Deighton work,"The Whistle - Blower" shares his view of the Intelligence Service as a continuation of the Class War by other means. Former Fleet Air Arm pilot Michael Caine is a patriotic Lower Middle Class Englishman proud that his son is a linguist working at GCHQ.When the young man dies under mysterious circumstances he soon becomes aware of an MI5/CIA link to his demise.As he makes his own investigations he comes up against a cunning and ruthless enemy - his son's former employers.High - ranking MI5 officers(which of course - it being the UK - means upper class Oxbridge men) conspire to protect one of their own by any means necessary. Nigel Havers,looking like a cross between Hank Marvin and Hugh Grant,is too old to convince as Mr Caine's son.With his worn sports jacket and leather - patched elbows,horn - rimmed glasses and floppy hair he is almost a caricature of the conscience - stricken intellectual.No matter how good his Russian he would have been shown the door at GCHQ within a month,one glimpse at his room and a cursory glance at his bookshelves would have convinced his paranoid "masters"that here was a man who was idealogically unsound. Mr Barry Foster is outstanding as Mr Caine's former colleague and retired spook who is brought back to the fold to muddy the waters. The scene where Mr Caine gets him drunk whilst pretending to be drunk himself is the highspot of the film.As it unfolds,Mr Caine gets more and more cold - eyed but still plays the part of a drunk to perfection. Sir John Gielgud is another caricature as the aristo mole being protected by the machinations of posh James Fox and Gordon Jackson. He is an arrant snob,patronising,condescending,arrogant and self - serving;an easy man to hate. The whole tone of the film is redolent of "The Ipcress File",a similarity not lessened by the sharing of its anti - American sentiments,its fear/contempt of the high - born,the two major cast members it has in common and the "Potemkin Village" segment of the plot. Even the colour print is similar.Perhaps Mr Caine saw his part as that of a middle aged,worn out Harry Palmer,with still just a spark of the old stroppiness.Certainly he has his voice pitched just right as the aspirant south of England business man,never quite sure whether to aim at Mitcham or Mayfair. As a cautionary tale about the abuse of governmental power "The Whistle Blower" has been overtaken by events,but admirers of Mr Caine will find a lot in it to like.

This 1986 spy thriller is a realistic thriller. Michael Caine gives a great performance as Frank, the father of a son that has died during mysterious circumstances. Frank embarks on his own investigation into his son´s death only to discover a British society that not is what it seems to be, under the surface. His investigation leads to the government and what they would do to protect it´s secret activities. The whistle blower is told in a slow yet thrilling pace. The plot is good, even though it is hard to follow from time to time, and the acting great. The production is very simple which makes the film realistic. The whistle blower is one of Caine´s better spy thrillers and is recommended for anyone into the spy genre. 7/10