The Jigsaw Man

Made after some of the best spy drama movies, including the TV adaptation of Le Carre's Smiley's People, you have to wonder how they got it so wrong. And with Michael Caine, Olivier and Charles Gray! And with the director of the grittiest early Bond movies! It was totally ridiculous as a story and as a film, but also hugely endearing to a Brit who has lived in Asia for over 25 years. I got the same pleasure watching this as I did in seeing the sets wobble in "The Builders" episode of Fawlty Towers. The whole thing wobbled, especially the acting. Oliver's mention of the leather chair to Michael Medwin was the only finely delivered line.

I had seen a documentary about espionage a couple of weeks before seeing this film on TV by chance and i found it simply amusing. The parallels between the film character Philip Kimberly and Kim Philby of real life are too many for this to be just a coincidence (not to mention the name of the film character which seems itself to be some anagram of Kim Philby).

All in all this is a nice film if you like espionage with a little comedy on the side. As for the comment of the other reviewer about the film being hard to follow: i didn't think it was THAT hard to follow. Besides, this being an espionage movie, if it wasn't a teensy bit hard to follow what would be the fun in it?

Michael Caine and Sir Laurence Olivier are involved in this routine movie (probably rent was due and the fellows were late on payment) which is completely useless. A former British spy who betrayed his own country is sent back from Russia on a mission. But suddenly (well, not so suddenly) the story twists to an unexpected (well, not so unexpected) ending. No actor seems to be interested in what is happening and the Italian dub (above all Olivier) is rather poor. The plot makes little sense and . If you look for a spy movie with Michael Caine, watch "The Ipcress File" or "The fourth protocol",instead. They would be a very much better choice.

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.

This movie is interesting. It is very hard to follow, but after seeing it two or three times, it comes. A very well defined star-studded cast but the movie is not what you'd expect it to be. Other than that, this movie would be good to watch if you like action, politics or just want to kill time.