Spy Games - Agenten der Nacht

I went into watching the film with no expectations, and found that it actually wasn't that bad. The film is choppy and inconsistent, but there's lots of little clever touches and running gags. The actors veer in and out of character and the director seemingly couldn't decide if he was making a light-hearted espionage flick or a sharp black comedy, but it's still fun to notice and pick apart the subtle asides and sight gags. Not the greatest movie of all time, but an amusing way to spend an hour and a half.

History is made at night has to be one of the worst films the Finnish film makers have touched in years. What a shame that director Ilkka Järvilaturi -who also made the terrible "Darkness in Tallinn"- has failed with a cast and crew like this: Irene Jacob and Kati Outinen, Kari Väänänen and Bill Pullman, Vesa-Matti Loiri and Bruno Kirby for example. Good performers' talents are wasted in a junk like this! Do your self a favor and don't watch this awful finnish try to make a romantic thriller that moves in time after cold war. This is not even unintentionally funny.

Porn star Henry Saari has role in this. He plays a man in a porn video. Even this video is nicer to watch than the rest of this stupid, ridiculous...

This entertaining poke at the cold war remnants is an interesting little romp that is at times very funny and others very clever and original.

Presented at the Toronto International Film Festival by director Ilkka Jarvilaturi, the film goes from one interesting locale to another as we jump from Hellsinki to New York to St. Petersburg. Bill Pullman and Irene Jacob are secret agents from opposite sides who have romantic entanglements as they try to determine just what they mean to each other while they still have a job to do.

A mysterious and coded porno tape is intercepted in transit and the CIA attempts to decode it while stalling for time. Complications arise in the plot which gives way to some innovative yet ultimately classical comic situations. I don't know whether it's the fault of the film or the theater's sound system but at times it was difficult to follow what was happening due to the heavy accents of the (presumably) Finnish actors. Bill Pullman's comic performance in the underrated "Zero Effect" is a good warm up for this similar but distinctly different character, and he is always a pleasure to watch. Bruno Kirby also provides a solid comic contribution as a disgruntled FBI operative and the stunningly beautiful Irene Jacob graces the screen in a demure yet intriguing role as the KGB agent looking to get ahead in the ranks.

Jarvilaturi was gracious enough to stick around for a Q&A after the film and spoke of mostly the music selections and their role in the film. One audience member pointed out a subtle yet relevant continuity error that they said they were already aware of and intended to fix. This is an indication of how fresh the film was and how the pressures of festival deadlines can affect the film.

"Spy Games" sets out to be like the old "I Spy" tv series with West vs East spying going on in exotic locations and lots of clever patter mixed in with a semiserious and intricate dramatic spy plot, a token babe here and there, etc. However, this unfortunate flick doesn't make it as it becomes convoluted and boring only managing to pull what's left of itself together in the end. "Spy Games" does have Pullman, Jacob, and Helsinki going for it but little else. Recommended only for the very bored.

He's an American spy, she's a Russian spy, they're both in Helsinki spying on each other and sleeping together. They both know that, things being what they are in the 90s, they're probably not as relevant as they once were. They both have superiors who take things slightly more seriously than they do. Sounds like a good premise, and the film certainly had it's funny moments. I saw it at the Toronto Film Festival last week. The audience enjoyed it. Lots of laughs. I liked it. There are worse ways to spend two hours.