The Secret Agent (1996)
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1996 Ben Hoffman
THE SECRET AGENT gives new meaning to the thriller genre. Here is a tense, taut, thrill-a-minute tour through Soho, London in 1886 with a spy, Anarchists and Nihilists, including Robin Williams in a non-credited role, who walks around with a hand grenade. Terrorism, such as we recently experienced in Oklahoma, is not something new. Hold onto your seat!
Verloc (Bob Hoskins) is both a secret agent and a spy for Russia. His job is to provoke the dissidents into explosive action while he pretends to be one of them When the Russian Embassy decides he is not doing enough to earn the money they are paying him, they order him to plant a bomb which will be blamed on the Anarchists. But things do not work out as planned, do they?
Verloc has been living nicely on the money he receives as a spy- provocateur. He has a young wife, Winnie, (Patricia Arquette) who married him so she could take care of her brother, Stevie (Christian Bale) a somewhat retarded young man who lives with Winnie and Verloc.
While the anarchists complain about government interference in their lives, they are not men of action and so they are permitted to engage in soap-boxing. But the man known as "The Professor" (George Spelvin) is a nihilist seeking to destroy everything. He wants to invent the perfect explosive. All hell breaks loose in the Verloc household when Verloc attempts to plant the bomb.
Patricia Arquette will surely be nominated for an Oscar for the brilliance of her portrayal of Winnie. Bob Hoskins is his usual underplayed self and here as the spy he is perfect. This then is a thriller you will not want to miss.
Directed by Christopher Hampton.
Rated: 3.5 Bytes
4 Bytes = Superb 3 Bytes = Too good to miss 2 Bytes = Average 1 Byte = Save your money
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