Turks & Caicos (2014)
The second movie in David Hare's Johnny Worricker trilogy. Loose-limbed spy Johnny Worricker, last seen whistleblowing at MI5 in Page Eight, has a new life. He is hiding out in Ray-Bans on the Caribbean islands of the title, eating lobster and calling himself Tom Eliot (he’s a poet at heart). We’re drawn into his world and his predicament when Christopher Walken strolls in as a shadowy American who claims to know Johnny. The encounter forces him into the company of some ambiguous American businessmen who claim to be on the islands for a conference on the global financial crisis. When one of them falls in the sea, their financial PR seems to know more than she's letting on. Worricker soon learns the extent of their shady activities and he must act quickly to survive when links to British prime minister Alec Beasley come to light.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
This movie is a chilled out version of a classic 'retired' spy story plot with some finance and drama thrown in. The delightful acting by Walken and Nighy coupled with a good dialogue and decent photography will bring you a good relaxing evening while pleasing your brain in an atmosphere really similar to what fiscal paradise islands should feel like. So why 8? Yeah, well it should be between 6 and 7, nothing really extraordinary here. BUT instead of all the terrible productions going on air all the time, this movie will not let you down and that's enjoyable all along.
You might not know all their names, but you've seen them time and again in numerous productions through the years. This film is a perfect example that putting lots of well know faces on the screen is absolutely no guarantee of creating a good movie. There are a couple 'off' performances, but on the whole the main issue is with the script.. it's just flat out boring. It's even a struggle to get out the ten required lines for this review. Nothing is remotely interesting, and every character portrayed (too many) are just plain dull. That's not easy to do.. normally Ryder, Walken, Nighy and Bonham-Carter are much more engaging (should they have the material to work with)... half the equation just isn't going to get it done.
This is a sequel of sorts to Page Eight (with the third part, Salting the Battlefield, due to be completed this year).The cast is excellent, Bill Nighy effortless as always, Walken is his usual self (is he a good guy or a bad guy?) and the writing and delivery near perfect.It should also be obvious which of our esteemed PM's Alec Beesley is modeled upon.It is pleasing to know that in amongst all the tosh we get on TV, there are still gems to be found.If you are going to watch this, I would recommend watching Page Eight first.
The first instalment of what has now turned out to be a trilogy, Page Eight, made me long for more and David Hare has certainly delivered. The second episode, Turks & Caicos, is perhaps a bit slower paced and less spellbinding than Page Eight, but it has all the ingredients that made its predecessor such a breath of fresh air: a carefully crafted plot line, believable dialogue, excellent acting, a total absence of fist fights and explosions and a willingness to question the path the Western world has walked in the post-9/11 world.After his escape from England, Johny Worricker is lying low in the Turks and Caicos islands, a British overseas territory with an American currency. Big men with big money are thick on the ground and Johnny soon gets drawn into a mental chess game with them that threatens to expose some unsavoury secrets about the business aspects of the 'war on terror'. He soon has to fear for his safety again and re-engages some old friends in England to get to the heart of the matter.'Turks & Caicois' grew on me after repeated viewing. Because of its slower pace and the fact that most of it take place on a small Caribbean island, it feels more like a good stage play than the other two parts of the Worricker trilogy. I relished the well-crafted dialog and subtle gestures and expressions of the actors so much that I actually watched the DVD twice on successive nights.