The Secret Agent

In the not-distant past Bob Hoskins made a good impression on me with his performances in movies like The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? So when I noticed that he produced and starred in a recent (1996 release) version of Joseph Conrad’s classic novel of European political intrigue called The Secret Agent in the on demand menu I figured it would be a good choice for a Friday evening show.

Sadly, my hopes were not met. The movie was ponderous and scattered, writer/director Christopher Hampton clearly unable to reduce Conrad’s sophisticated language to a producible screenplay. Eddie Izzard did a wonderful small bit as the Russian spymaster who is Hoskins’ new boss and a very fresh Christian Bale was okay as a mentally addled young man in his care but Patricia Arquettte was out of her depth as his young English bride (and Bale’s sister).

Frankly, I gave up after about 40 minutes.

not recommended