The Secret Agent ** (1996, Bob Hoskins, Patricia Arquette, Christian Bale) – Classic Movie Review 1550

Writer-director Christopher Hampton’s 1996 new version of the 1907 Joseph Conrad classic novel is only interesting as an honourable failure and to compare it with the book and Alfred Hitchcock’s vintage version of it under the title of as Sabotage in 1936.

Bob Hoskins, who also produces,  just about gets by as the Secret Agent, Verloc, who accidentally kills the mentally disabled brother Stevie (Christian Bale) of his pretty young wife Winnie (Patricia Arquette) while they are carrying out a bombing attack on Greenwich Observatory in London in the late 19th century. Verloc makes his living as a Russian goverment spy, while providing information to London police via their representative Chief Inspector Heat.

Eddie Izzard struggles with his phony foreign accident as the ambassador, so it’s never very clear which country he comes from, though Vladimir might be a clue. In fact he is London’s new Russian ambassador, who demands that Verloc prove his worth or lose his salary, sparking a chain of tragedy. Robin Williams makes an uncredited appearance as the Professor Assassin.

Jim Broadbent (as Chief Inspector Heat), Gérard Depardieu, Elizabeth Spriggs, Peter Vaughan, Roger Hammond, Ralph Nossek, Neville Phillipps and Julian Wadham are in the distinguished cast, so at least some of the performances are fairly good.

They’ve got a quote on the DVD box cover that this is a riveting and suspenseful film and that Bob Hoskins is masterful, but alas it isn’t like that at all.

The film and the book are based upon a real event when French anarchist botched a bombing of the Greenwich Observatory in 1894.

Sadly on 8 August 2012, Hoskins announced his retirement from acting after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2011 and on 29 April 2014 he died from pneumonia, aged 71. He appeared in films such as The Long Good Friday (1980), Mona Lisa (1986), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Mermaids (1990) and Hook (1991).

Tragically dear Robin Williams was found dead in his home in Tiburon, California, on Monday August 11 2014, aged 63. The cause of death is believed to be suicide via asphyxiation. He had been battling depression and recently entered 12-step rehab for drug abuse. He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1997 for Good Will Hunting, and won two Emmys, four Golden Globes, five Grammys and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Mrs Doubtfire (1993) was perhaps his most enduring character. He was gearing up to reprise his role in a sequel.

http://derekwinnert.com/good-will-hunting-classic-film-review-156/

http://derekwinnert.com/hook-1991-robin-williams-dustin-hoffman-bob-hoskins-julia-roberts-classic-movie-review-1421/

http://derekwinnert.com/sabotage-classic-film-review-278/

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1550

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com/