The Jigsaw Man (1983) (original) (raw)
Synopsis
Philip Kimberly, the former head of the British Secret Service who defected to Russia, is given plastic surgery and sent back to Britain by the KGB to retrieve some vital documents. With the documents in hand, he instead plays off MI6 and the KGB against each other.
Cast
Popular reviews
Action!: Terence Young - The Many Stages Of A Real "M"
The final film in our marathon of director Terrence Young (as usual, I couldn't find several of his films including his real last movie), and although it is not one of his most memorable works, it certainly is a far better way to wrap up than "Inchon."
An adaptation of John Le Carre's novel, the film stars Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier and Susan George among others. It tells the story of an English defector (Caine) who is sent back to his country by the Russians to retrieve a compromising list, which becomes entangled with the story of his daughter (George) in a complex and intricate spy plot.
To no…
Pretty rough. Lots of phoning it in on this one. Hell, I’m phoning in this review out of respect. Lots of Bond alumni though, and Charles Gray is always Good for a cheap thrill.
Incredibly badly made spy thriller helmed by Terence Young. But quite fun to watch the stellar cast struggling with awful dialogue and poor direction. In fact best to watch this as a comedy.
"Your humble opinion means less than a fart in a blizzard”
Former British Intelligence chief Sir Philip Kimberly (Michael Caine...well not right away), years earlier had defected to the Soviet Union having sold secrets to the KGB. Kimberly is given plastic surgery, making him look 20 years younger and returned to England to steal classified documents. Kimberley decides to slip his KGB handlers and manipulate both agencies.
Having watched The Holcroft Covenant last month, I didn't think I could find a drier Michael Caine espionage thriller. Wrong!Not only is it dry, it's not very good.
Inspired by Kim Philby's defection back in the 1960s, this is all talk, talk, talk. Not a great deal happens, only at the climax in…
British traitor Kim Philby, sorry Philip Kimberley (Michael Caine), has top Soviet cosmetic surgery that somehow takes 20 years off him.
In one of his final films, Lawrence Olivier starts off with the worst stick-on beard I've ever seen then shouts most of his lines for the rest of the film.
We're treated to a range of Caine's wobbly accents (American, Russian) which I can't decide are hilarious or genius; there's a horrible '80s synth score; laughable action scenes - Caine keeps karate chopping people (sometimes to death) which reminded me of Inspector Clouseau, and Susan George crashes her car into crates of melons before overturning in an enclosure of baboons; Caine says "bangers" too many times in a sausage…
There is a palpable sense of Last Gasp about The Jigsaw Man, an attempt to recapture an aura of the 60s that had long since evaporated. 007 inaugurator Terence Young, in his penultimate stint in the director's chair, directs the final script from Jo Eisinger, screenwriter of Gilda and Night and the City. In an attempt to produce more James Bond vibes, Dionne Warwick is given a ballad over the end credits.
But what a woebegone effort it is. Low budget espionage in seedy environs could be extremely effective (The Ipcress File, The Deadly Affair) but the seediness has to be put over with some style. Here it just looks bloody cheap. The assembled cast is impressive but they all…
Watched as part of my Cambridge Five season.
A really weird idea executed by a director, assistant and DP who had nothing left to give.
Just as one should never judge a book by its cover, so too should one, upon seeing credits bursting with famous names, not automatically assume that the movie will be worthy of the talent assembled. The Jigsaw Man was directed by Terence Young, he of three classic James Bond films, but that was twenty years prior. Young's previous film to this was the infamous Inchon! (1981) and that alone should tell you about the parlous state his career was in by the early 1980s. The Jigsaw Man's second unit director was fellow Bond alumnus Peter Hunt, and it was lensed by legendary cinematographer Freddie Francis. Yet somehow the collective efforts of all these massively talented and experienced men somehow add…
Some sub Le Carre spy intrigue with Caine as Kim Philby stand in who gets send back to the UK and ends in a war between MI6 and KGB. Olivier is around as not-George Smiley doing a bored Guiness impression, so this also qualify as a Sleuth reunion. Mike Hodges developed this and one can sense his sadism surviving the final film but under Terence Young staid hands it has no personality. Lots of talk, very few thrills, Caine would definitely rather be somewhere else.
A cold war spy thriller directed by Bond vet Terence Young, starring Michael Caine and Lawrence Olivier with Bond alumnus Charles Gray in tow. How good might it be?
If it were made in 1964?
If it were made in 1984?
Fabulous...dreadful...both?
By any conventional measure it’s pretty bad. My suspicions were confirmed in the first moments of the movie when it becomes clear that plastic surgery would figure prominently in the plot. That’s not a spoiler really, it’s pretty evident as soon as you hear Michael Caine‘s voice coming out of another actor’s mouth that completely face-altering (and in this case body-rejuvenating) plastic surgery is in the offing. Either that or the wily old bastard actually got them to…
A very dull film is the only way of describing this tale of spies and defectors, plastic surgery and double dealing, during the Cold War.
Michael Caine plays the rejuvenated spy who returns to his homeland, and his former friend and sparring partner, head of M15 (a truly appalling Laurence Olivier), at the same time reviving his relationship with his pouting daughter Penny (Susan George) who is having a fling with a secret service man (Robert Powell), who is surviving attempts to kill him by ... well, who knows?
With fruity support from Charles Gray and Michael Medwin and an awful script delivered in poor accents (Caine's Russian has to be heard to be believed) 'The Jigsaw Man' becomes a bit of a joke.
It is watchable, but is really a load of old rubbish dressed up in London locations and with some semblance of a plot.
'El hombre rompecabezas' supuso la quinta, y última, acreditación juntos en un mismo producto entre Michael Caine y Laurence Olivier tras el telefilme 'Male of the Species' (1969), 'La batalla de Inglaterra' (1969), 'La huella' (1972) y 'Un puente lejano' (1977), siendo el dirigido por Joseph L. Mankiewicz la más recordada de estos filmes. Y visto lo visto, así seguirá siendo por los siglos de los siglos porque este quinto largometraje pasó de puntillas, y con razón.
Mis motivos para verla era ver a ellos dos (especialmente Michael Caine, un actor de gran elegancia y presencia) y la historia de espionaje, un subgénero que siempre me ha atraído desde mis primeros pasos viendo cine. Ya estaba advertido de que podría…