Caccia all'agente Freegard

Despite the negative reviews I thought I would give this a viewing. I'm glad I did as I enjoyed it. The first half hour or so was a bit slow but once the story gets going the film really drew me in to wanting to watch it to the conclusion. I thought the acting was excellent particularly by the two leading actors. The story is based on a true life event and I think there is a lesson here for everybody, be careful who you trust!

Clearly I was expecting a different watch based on the title, but was pleasantly surprised when the story started unravelling. Newb filmmakers Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn co-wrote and co-directed, and aside from slow pacing (especially the first half), they put together a nice suspenseful film. The last half got crazy tense and wow, what an intense true story this was. James Norton and Gemma Arterton played their roles great. Had the pacing been a little faster and/or the 115 min runtime trimmed down to around 95 mins, this film would've been near perfect. If anything, just watch it for the mind-boggling story from true events.

Going off the title, which of course is never wise, I heard agent and expected this to be some sort of action thriller. However, this was actually an interesting psychological thriller!! It was dull in parts but that is likely because I was expecting to be building up to cheap thrills and action. Instead, this was a very interesting mix of psychological profiles, how the human mind works, emotional manipulation and even a mirror on society in terms working life, student life, student debt and how the trajectory of our lives can impact our ultimate dreams and ambitions, and make us settle. This film is far from perfect and there are some parts I found unrealistic, so don't expect a classic, but it is an interesting watch.

Fascinating movie with top cast. Very engrossing and emotive given the way likeable characters are manipulated and subject to disturbing treatment at the hands of a psychopath.

This is very topical given nudge and psychological techniques were openly used on the population recently. The ethics of this need to be closely examined and this movie helps shed light on what is possible when trust is given to a third party who abuses for their own purpose.

High recommended. 7/10.

I already have watched the documentary which was a real eye opener. Admittedly the film covers how Robert Freegard was tracked down one of his victims. The acting by Gemma was a bit wooden and I know she's better than this performance. The film lacked atmosphere so I am assuming it didn't have a big budget.

The ending was completely different from the real life ending which took place in an airport.

Overall it could have been a lot better with a bigger budget.