Product: The Whistle Blower [VHS] (1987)
Rating: 2.0
Vengeance is Mine, Sayeth Michael Caine
"The Whistle Blower "(1987) (104 minutes) is an action/crime thriller, a rather grim British film made rather late in what's turned out to be Oscar-winner Sir Michael Caine's long, long, and varied celluloid career. It fits nicely into the older guy vengeance/vigilante school, such as Clint Eastwood's GRAN TORINO: guess every aging action star gets to make one or two. (And, in fact, a later film,Harry Brown, which I have also viewed and reviewed in these pages, strongly resembles it). The film is slow-moving, but cerebral and suspenseful, and boasts a strong cast backing Caine. It's based on a novel by John Hale, with script by Julian Bond, directed by Simon Langton.Caine, an Oscar winner forThe Cider House Rules (Miramax Collector's Series),Hannah and Her Sisters [Blu-ray], and the Batman movies, plays Frank Jones, the title character -- the whistle blower--a distinguished army veteran, only moderately successful businessman, and recent widower. It is the midst of the cold war; Frank and his son are both involved to some degree in the spy business. Frank finds himself trying to investigate the recent death of his son Robert, "Bob" Jones, a Russian translator for a British intelligence agency. Bob, as played by Nigel Havers (The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner) has just died, as has another friend of his, in mysterious circumstances. James Fox (The Desert Fox) plays Lord, an official of the agency, as is Gordon Jackson (The Ipcress File) playing Bruce. Barry Foster (Frenzy) plays Charles Greig, an army buddy of Jones' who has gone on to make a successful career in the military. David Langton (Upstairs, Downstairs: The Complete Series - 40th Anniversary Collection) plays the relevant government minister overseeing the agency. Felicity Dean (CONNECTIONS) plays Cynthia Goodburn, widow of Bob's murdered friend, and Bob's mistress. Theater immortal Sir John Gielgud (Arthur [HD]) plays the distinguished Sir Adrian Chapple.The movie was filmed, in color, to be sure, on location in London and environs, and seems to incorporate actual historical footage of the period. It appears that the plot is based on that of the highly-placed Sir Anthony Blunt, art advisor to Queen Elizabeth II, who was some time ago, revealed as the fifth man in the very damaging pro-Soviet spy network headed by Kim Philby and Anthony Burgess, and it treats the spy business in a fairly realistic manner. Some of the casting was of more than passing interest. Nigel Havers, from his debut in LONELINESS, until the present day, has specialized in playing upper-class twits, and I found him utterly unbelievable as Caine's son, particularly spliced between scenes of Foster, another certified cockney, and Caine tossing back a few . Felicity Dean might have been the blond of the week back then, who can remember, but her fleshy look hasn't aged well. Gordon Jackson, whom I believe I first saw in a small part as an ethnic Scot in TIGHT LITTLE ISLAND, unfortunately committed suicide some years ago. Sources close to him have said that he despaired of being typecast precisely as he was here. And, oddly enough, there are three connections to the beloved TV serial UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS. Jackson was, of course, the butler, Mr. Hudson. David Langton, the government minister here, Richard Bellamy, head of that household. And director Simon Langton is his son.There is, in this picture, the usual whiff of anti-Americanism that was common in all the spy movies of the period influenced by the great British spymeister John LeCarre, who was writing of the Philby betrayal in his Karla trilogy ([[The Karla Trilogy Digital Collection Featuring George Smiley: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, Smiley###s People,). Mind you, Michael Caine gives an outstanding performance in this entertainment, down to his original cockney walk. And I've been crazy about Caine since first I clocked him in ZULU; then in the original ALFIE (1966), and for sure in THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING,GET CARTER(1971)and his Harry Palmer trilogy. It's too bad, but if you're not a particular fan of his, or of movies in the spy genre, I'm not sure this flick will do anything for you.