Scorpio

The movie hasn't aged well, but it still lives with great performances by it's lead actors. The editing and pace feel a bit odd (or off) and it's not only, because it's a slow moving movie, but because some choices seem "wrong".

If you can overlook those "flaws", you can surely enjoy the movie. The story is pretty complicated though and you might feel a bit confused at the ending. But this confusion can be a good thing, too. And the more I think about the ending, the more I like it. While it could have a better set-up, it still delivers and gives the movie one final punch, that will leave you surely with some sort of taste in your mouth (as the saying goes). If you like spy movies, this is essential, otherwise be aware of it's flaws and downfalls.

In the 1960s, disenchantment among the Western populations led to the hippie movement and a new questioning of authority. Combining this with the Watergate scandal and you set the context for movies like SCORPIO and THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR. Both films view our own government with great suspicion--particularly the CIA. Such films probably would NOT have been accepted by the public just a decade earlier, but in the 70s paranoia of this type was fashionable. So was the moral relativism that implied that the US and Soviet governments were pretty much the same.

In some ways, the plot to SCORPIO is pretty interesting--a CIA agent (Burt Lancaster) is perceived to be a double agent and is ordered to be killed. Oddly, Alain Delon, a Frenchman, is given this task but Lancaster seems too slippery and skilled to be easily taken. Unfortunately, after a while the film both becomes rather dull and is rather hard to believe. As one reviewer pointed out, the way that Lancaster and Scofield knew each other didn't really make sense, as an American serving with the Spanish Republicans would have been seen as an extreme leftist--not exactly a person you'd expect to later be in the CIA. Of course, this DID help the moral relativism being pushed in the film.

Aside from watching the acrobatic Lancaster do his own stunts and Scofield overact (in a fun way), this is a very low energy film--and you'd not expect this would be the case for an espionage thriller. It just seemed very detached and uninvolving. Overall, it's a passable film, but not one you should go out of your way to see.

I had seen this years ago and thankfully it was shown again on thisTV out of Indianapolis.

Although this film is a great spy thriller, it is much more about friendship. Deep friendship. Between enemies and old friends. Not the fleeting digital facebook friendship where facebook folks are friended are defriended with the ease of changing lipstick. But deep, 'no questions asked' friendship of life threatening assistance. Do you have any friends like that? I think not. This is more a human story of old loyalties not nameless rule book bureaucrats.

There is a very poignant scene in the music hall where Max and Cross are listening to Brahms talking about the favor that Cross needs. Earlier in a cafe, Cross tells Max he needs a favor, and Max says he will do it no matter what and has the weekend free. Max is a music instructor. In the music hall, Cross says the favor may be painful, he needs a message delivered to his wife and it will probably kick back to Max. Max doesn't care, because after WWII, Cross was the one who liberated Max from the camps, where "he couldn't listen to Brahms without crying". Now, after being liberated he can. He dies helping Cross. Who has friends like that?

Cross friendships go deep, from the hood in DC to a Soviet spy. In fact, those friendships transcend race and politics.

Scorpio predates Casino Royale in a great foot chase through a construction sight and it also has the intrigue of 3 Days of the Condor. It also predates the Bourne Identity series in that Cross is one step ahead of the CIA most of the time.

GREAT LINE:

SCORPIO: "I think you better try McLeods chair for fit, it is going to be empty soon". Said to 2nd highest CIA guy after learning that an agent of McLeod killed Cross's wife.

I liked Cross's coterie of old friends that he relies on for his escape through Europe and in the US. A great entertaining thriller and with Burt Lancaster, Alan Deloin and Max Schofield you will have a delightful time.

"Scorpio" is a pretty good spy drama, though it's not for everyone. Before I explain that qualifying remark, a brief mention of the movie's positive attributes. Unlike a lot of other movies involving spies, the plot for "Scorpio" is pretty easy to follow. The movie also portrays the world of spies in a more realistic fashion; spying for the most part isn't action- packed, but instead involves a lot of humdrum stuff. The movie also has a very un-Hollywood-like ending that I thought was pretty refreshing. Those last two positive attributes, however, are two that will turn many people (mainly young viewers) off this movie. The lack of action will probably bore them, and the ending will probably infuriate them. But if you are a fan of older movies and their particular kind of storytelling, the movie is a good way to spend 114 minutes of your time.

This is a convoluted espionage thriller with shades of John Le Carre. Unfortunately Michael Winner directs it like an early 1970s Europudding with most of the main actors sound like they have been dubbed.

Burt Lancaster is veteran CIA spook Cross who wants to retire and live in peace with his wife. He has accumulated a nice nest egg.

However Cross is now branded by his employers as a double agent. It helps them to know that Cross has leftist sympathies during the Spanish civil war. His protege codenamed Scorpio (Alain Delon) has been tasked to wipe Cross out, a task he has been forced to do.

Both play a cat and mouse game across various cities. Scorpio is not sure if Cross is a double agent or has merely been framed.

Winner has adopted a cynical look at spies. Both Cross and his Soviet counterpart Zharkov (Paul Scofield) are disillusioned old men, both of live and their countries.

There is plenty of good action but it is a muddled story and with a disappointing ending.