GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

a_chinn Interesting if somewhat lifeless WWII espionage tale that's loosely based on a true story and has hints of James Bond. Christopher Plummer plays a British criminal who's caught pulling a heist in Nazi Germany. While in jail he convinces his captors.that he could be a double agent and work for them. He's tasked with going back to England to blow up a British airplane factory (for a hefty payday and a pardon for past crimes) and does so by telling the British he'll work for them as a double agent if they let him blow up the airplane factory (for a hefty payday and a pardon for past crimes). Plummer then returns to German having accomplished his mission, looking to collect his payday, but the tide is turning against the Germans at this point and he may not be able to collect his payday and must soon choose sides. The most interesting part of the film is that it's never makes clear where Plummer's true allegiances lie, which sets up a clever shot at the end of the film when he stares at himself in a mirror, highlighting the lack of clarity who we are really looking at. The film boasts a strong supporting cast that includes German love interest Romy Schneider, Yul Brynner as a monocle wearing Nazi, Trevor Howard as a MI6 agent, and even Bond alumni Gert "Goldfinger" Fröbe and Bond Girl Claudine Auger, Domino from "Thunderball." The film was also directed by veteran Bond director Terence Young ("Dr. No," "From Russia With Love," and "Thunderball"). However, on the downside, Plumber is disappointingly uncharismatic in the lead. Also, as interesting of a story premise the film has, it lacked any real drama, either on an emotional level between Plummer and Schneider or with any sort of inner conflict over his changing alligences, but also lacking with basic action or suspense with the factory bombing or the other espionage sequences, which all felt rather perfunctory and by the numbers. The film needed either more James Bond thrills or more "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" drama. Instead, we're left with a bit of both and not enough of either. Still, the story and the cast are enough to carry the picture and make it worth watching.

malcolmgsw To anyone interested in the true story of Eddie Chapman I suggest that they round the book "Agent Zigzag".This film is an attempt to do a clone James Bond film complete with inappropriate 60s song blaring out over the credits.The first problem is that Christopher Plummer is totally miscast as Eddie Chapman.A couple of years later it would be Michael Caine who would have been chosen.The story veers so far from the true Chapman story as to be a complete fiction.There was no countess in the real story.It really is absurd particularly when she appears in a different haute couture creation in every scene.Chapman actually got very friendly with his German spy master,not as shown in the film.He was kept in a secret house in Hendon whilst in the UK.Along with his mistress.A lot of damage was done to a dummy factory,not to De Havillands itself.So in the end this tiresome fabrication ends up falling flat on its face.

Jeff (actionrating.com) Skip it – This WWII espionage movie could have been much better. The plot, which is based on a true story, has so much potential, but it never delivers. Christopher Plummer plays a former bank robber and "safe-cracker" who, after being imprisoned, volunteers his skills to the Germans so that he can be released. But who is he really working for? Is he a double-agent, or possibly a triple-agent? After watching the movie, I still don't know the answer to that question. This movie doesn't flow well, and there seems to be holes in the plot. Yul Brynner plays a mysterious German officer who happens to be an anti-Nazi. While Brynner is great as usual, Plummer doesn't bring much on-screen chemistry. And the director, who also directed a few James Bond movies, tries too hard to make Plummer a "007" kind of character. The main problem is that this movie is just boring. Not enough action to make it worth the watch. 1.5 action rating

Andy Howlett I seem to have missed this film over the years, despite once working in a video shop with it on the shelves. I've just caught it on TV and I'm glad I never bothered with it before. It looks amateurish and clumsy, and it didn't help that the print I saw was grainy and cheap-looking. This may just have been the TV company's copy though. Plummer is OK, but the talents of Yul Brynner and Trevor Howard seem wasted. The annoying thing is that it tells a real 'Boy's Own' adventure story, much of which is true, and it could have been a really engrossing and enjoyable film if it had been directed and photographed with more care. Next time it comes on TV I'll find something else to do.