The Jigsaw Man (1983)

This is truly a woeful film. Terence Young's days as a director who was at the top of his game with the iconic Bond films of the 60s had long gone, and this film not only reflects his lack of innovation as a director but also how low the British film industry had sunk by the mid eighties. The subject matter was way past its sell-by-date even in the mid-eighties, and the UK film industry would look to the likes of Neil Jordan and Stephen Wooley to inspire a new generation of film makers.I can't imagine anyone paying good money to see this in the theatres, it probably didn't even make money as a video release. It is pure 3rd rate TV drama of the worst order. The cinematography and art direction are turgidly ininspiring, it is only interesting in that one wonders how such a stella British cast was employed.Caine and George try their hardest, true professionals carrying out their responsibilities as the ship slowly sinks. Robert Powell is actually rather charismatic, probably because he was as used to working on the small screen as in feature films. But Lord Olivier is dreadful, he just shouts his way through the film wearing a rather poorly attached full beard. His kind of acting had really had its day and he really shouldn't have bothered. A small shout out does go to Charles Grey, who as always make s every scene his in worth watching.All in all a quite dreadful film and its only saving grace is that it reminds us of how far British film making has improved in the last 30 years. Avoid like the plague.

Every great actor must have at least ONE on the CV they would not want anyone to find out about and for the likes of Caine and Olivier, ( I STILL cannot believe they were in this!), this is IT. Lacks EVERYTHING: pace, style, excitement, camera work, plot, score etc. etc. Unlike my REAL pet hates, such as John Wayne's "The Green Berets", I cannot even get really excited enough to hate this turkey, but just regard it in the way you would a really boring and unsatisfactory meal in a third rate restaurant - something you have gone through, but will never repeat by returning. Regard this film in the same way or, even better, save two hours of your life by doing something better than recording this when it is shown at 1.30a.m. on Channel Zog, (for I cannot imagine any other way you are going to get to see it), and wasting the time to view it later.

Sir Philip Kimberley is a former M16 intelligent general who defected to the Russians in the 70s, returns back to his home country after faking his death. He receives plastic surgery on his face, so he could go into England to pick up very important documents that he has hidden which has KGB agents working in England. Knowing that the British thinks his dead, he escapes the KGB men and defects back to the British as a Russian spy. He goes on to basically play each other off, in the hope he can pick up a large amount of doe and go on to live a new life, along with his daughter."The Jigsaw Man" is pretty much a fundamental Cold War thriller, which feels clammy and looks like a cheap b-grade spy film. The routine material (taken off Dorothea Bennett's novel) wants to be crafty with many plot tricks involving double crossings, disguises, ever-changing accents and secret documents. But with these aspects, there's just too much restraint and haggard developments in what is mainly a story and dialogue driven outing. You'll need these elements to be strong and convincing, but a stated script completely drags and spits out some bawdy lines. The serious nature of it, can come across quite laughable and ludicrous. While the chunky plot offers a labyrinth of turns, it can be meandering and vapid in many shady situations. These twisty developments running through the story are well organised, but never in a astute manner. Thrills are minimal, but the elaborately taut layout breaks out for an action flourish towards the latter end. Even then, the minor pockets of get-up-and-go just can't break the slumber for too long. Terence Young's pedestrian direction seems to go missing in very long spells, but Freddie Francis' polished photography and John Cameron's steamily leeching music score doesn't follow the same fate. The cast is an excellent one. Michael Caine is decent enough, even though it's not quite an inspired performance and provides nothing more then a sour-face. Laurence Olivier provides class, but again he's left with not too much on offer. One very underrated Robert Powell gives a reliably understated turn and Susan George is sparklingly potent in her supporting role.Incredibly patchy and at times hollow, but still a sturdy espionage thriller. The main problem is that it lingers about in too many chewy sequences then really getting on with it.

I had seen a documentary about espionage a couple of weeks before seeing this film on TV by chance and i found it simply amusing. The parallels between the film character Philip Kimberly and Kim Philby of real life are too many for this to be just a coincidence (not to mention the name of the film character which seems itself to be some anagram of Kim Philby).All in all this is a nice film if you like espionage with a little comedy on the side. As for the comment of the other reviewer about the film being hard to follow: i didn't think it was THAT hard to follow. Besides, this being an espionage movie, if it wasn't a teensy bit hard to follow what would be the fun in it?