Icône

I haven't read the book Icon, but I understand it's quite different from the film. One of the reasons may be because it was a TV movie and didn't have a budget for the grand finale that was described in one of the reviews; another reason may be because most TV movies are not written to the same level as feature films. Given some feature films I've seen, that's pretty scary, but there we are.

Icon is the story of a retired US Operative, Jason Monk (Patrick Swayze) who comes out of retirement to return to Russia and bring to justice Komarov (Patrick Bergin), an enemy responsible for the death of Monk's fellow operatives years earlier.

Komarov is now running for President in the new Russia. Working with a member of the Russian police force (Annika Peterson), he discovers Komarov's true agenda, which includes wiping out ethnic groups using biological warfare.

Monk has an additional reason for returning to Russia - he has a daughter there and has learned that his wife died of cancer. He hasn't seen his daughter since she was a little girl; she's now 17.

This was a solid, if not overwhelmingly thrilling, miniseries that held my interest. And the cast was solid: Barry Morse, who was something like 88 when he did this miniseries; Ben Cross, Jeff Fahey whom I always think of as my elevator buddy; and Michael York.

Now, why do I call Jeff Fahey my elevator buddy? About 30 years ago, when he was on One Life to Live, we were on an elevator together. Around 2000, I went to an opening of some kind, and as I walked onto the elevator to leave, Jeff Fahey entered.

Anyway, this was pretty good. Sad to see Patrick Swayze, gone too soon.

Adapted from a Frederick Forsythe's novel - entertaining but nothing more - this TV movie is entertaining, not really boring, rather well made and also faithful to the book - as far as I remember - but because the book was not that exciting, I can't imagine the movie being better than the book, especially if it is faithful to it. Follow me? Anyway Frederick Forsythe's best novel will always remain his first DAY OF THE JACKAL, period. For the rest, the main good thing with him is that it is so well researched in terms of accuracy and details, which you don't feel in a film, no matter the directing and acting obvious skills. And also suspense always kept tight in Forsythe's material.

FREDDY FORSYTH has come up with a storyline which will suit the mood of the West's suspicions about Putin's Russia. Forsyth installs a nasty guy as the Ruski president who wants to return the country - not so much to Stalin's Communism but more to Hitlerian Fascism. In fact, his Political Manifesto could have come straight out of Mein Kampf rather than Marx. And, the loon has the latest weapons of biological destruction to achieve the ethnic cleansing pogrom of the Russian Federation. American mercenaries connive with the Russian Prez to realise his fanatical, genocidal dream, but then enter Dirty Dancing's Pat Swayze...and,yep,things get really down and dirty. He's a former US operative-turned-drifter,Jason Monk, who is enlisted by the British Government to see what the Russians are up to. As a corny sidebar, Swayze's character who is no Monk (!)has sired a Russian beauty Elena (played by the gorgeous Marta Kondova) on his previous missions to the former Commie state. Hardman Swayze does a passable job in setting out to defeat the evil Russians. But young unknown actress Marta Kondova steals the flick as his nubile, 18-year-old Russian daughter Elena who helps dad root out the terror threatening her beloved Mother Russia.

I recently rented this promising mini series, I didn't even know they had adapted it for television. I was really looking forward to it since the book Icon is one of the best spy thrillers I have ever read. What a disappointment it was. The plot only loosely resembles the one in the book, the characters are completely miscast and there's some appalling acting. A shame really. The story behind Icon is perfect for the silver screen, but I think television budgets just aren't big enough for a decent adaptation of this spectacular book.

Forsyth deserves much, much better than this. Avoid and stick to the book, which is a must-read.

I just have watched Icon on DVD and despite being a great book, the movie is a weak substrate from it. Those responsible for the writing should be banished to Siberia. Why they maul the great story with all kind of C-film subploys which are totally irrelevant to the story is totally beyond me.

Yet the filmmakers and cast do there best to make something out of it, but at the end the film was not satisfying at all.

Can someone please make a decent movie out of this to show how it is done. I'm sure that the crowds will rally for such a masterpiece novel turned into a book, not into a cheap C-movie.