History Is Made at Night

This film couldn't decide what kind of movie it wanted to be: a serious spy film, a light comedy, a dark comedy, or a romance. The acting wasn't good. The screenplay was awful. The directing was abysmal.

The idea could have worked: a mothballed CIA agent and his former-KGB girlfriend find themselves on opposite ends of a post-Cold War dispute, putting their relationship (and their lives) in jeopardy. But much of the plot line was completely unbelievable. Also the film was too choppy and inconsistent, almost schizophrenic at times. Just when you're starting to enjoy the farcical parts of the movie, BANG! The movie turns dark. I blame the director. It doesn't appear that he had any kind of overarching plan for this movie, seemingly taking each scene individually, and setting the film adrift as a result. About the only thing going for it was sex appeal, and even that grew tiresome.

Take my advice: avoid this movie. There are better ways to spend 90 minutes.

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.

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.

This is one of the most enjoyable movies I have seen in a long time. Also great scenes of real Finland, not some other place pretending to be Finland. Bill Pullman and and Irene Jacob have great chemistry.

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.