Production Year: 1987 - Drama - Director: Simon Langton - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance, TBA - Starring: Michael Caine, Nigel Havers, John Gielgud, James Fox, Gordon Jackson, Felicity Dean, Andrew Felindre more
The compelling mystery surrounds a talented linguist who works at a government information-gathering service in England and whose accidental death haunts his father. Unraveling the... more
businessman and regular patriotic war veteran whose son Bob (Nigel Havers) is a Russian linguist who works at GCHQ. Bob begins to express doubts to his father about aspec...
businessman and regular patriotic war veteran whose son Bob (Nigel Havers) is a Russian linguist who works at GCHQ. Bob begins to express doubts to his father about aspec...
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businessman and regular patriotic war veteran whose son Bob (Nigel Havers) is a Russian linguist who works at GCHQ. Bob begins to express doubts to his father about aspects of his work; days later, police report to Frank that his son has died in a fall. A verdict of accidental death is recorded. However, in the midst of his grief, Frank is puzzled by aspects of the death and decides to conduct his own investigation. In so doing he finds himself pitted against an utterly unscrupulous Secret Service prepared to stop at nothing, including murder, to cover up their operations.Set at the time when concerns about GCHQ were at their height and the Cold War had yet to thaw, many of the film's concerns seem, years subsequently, to be thankfully dated. Moreover, it's hard to believe that the bumbling British Secret Services would actually be capable of organising a convivial soiree in a brewery, let alone orchestrate the sort of skulduggery they perpetrate here. Still, with a cast that features all the usual British suspects (Sir John Gielgud, James Fox, Gordon Jackson) there's no doubting the pedigree ofThe Whistle Blower, which, despite its ostensibly uncomfortable message, actually makes for very agreeable comfort viewing. Michael Caine is especially fine as Michael Caine. --David Stubbs
businessman and regular patriotic war veteran whose son Bob (Nigel Havers) is a Russian linguist who works at GCHQ. Bob begins to express doubts to his father about aspects of his work; days later, police report to Frank that his son has died in a fall. A verdict of accidental death is recorded. However, in the midst of his grief, Frank is puzzled by aspects of the death and decides to conduct his own investigation. In so doing he finds himself pitted against an utterly unscrupulous Secret Service prepared to stop at nothing, including murder, to cover up their operations.Set at the time when concerns about GCHQ were at their height and the Cold War had yet to thaw, many of the film's concerns seem, years subsequently, to be thankfully dated. Moreover, it's hard to believe that the bumbling British Secret Services would actually be capable of organising a convivial soiree in a brewery, let alone orchestrate the sort of skulduggery they perpetrate here. Still, with a cast that features all the usual British suspects (Sir John Gielgud, James Fox, Gordon Jackson) there's no doubting the pedigree ofThe Whistle Blower, which, despite its ostensibly uncomfortable message, actually makes for very agreeable comfort viewing. Michael Caine is especially fine as Michael Caine. --David Stubbs
Production Year: 1995 - Drama - Director: Pat O'Connor - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over, 15 years and over - Starring: Geraldine O'Rawe, Colin Firth, Saffron Burrows, Minnie Driver, Chris O'Donnell
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
A review by sunmeilan on The Whistle Blower (DVD) October 15th, 2008
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Disliked it
Story
Very ordinary
Characters / Performances
Satisfactory
Special Effects
Unmemorable
How does it compare to similar films?
Unmemorable
Advantages:
A so - so plot, good performance from Caine
Disadvantages:
Takes ages to get going, nothing outstanding
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
Frank Jones is very proud of his son, Bob, who has managed to hold on to his job as a GCHQ translator during the economic troubles of the eighties. Bob, however, is less sure that he wants the job - he suspects that something is afoot in his organisation that could have serious repercussions for the world at large. Then Bob is found dead, having apparently thrown himself from the top of his apartment building. Frank is immediately suspicious; even more so when every attempt he makes to find out what is going on is thwarted by government officials. Will Frank be able to follow the traces of intrigue that Bob has left? And will he be able to do anything with what he finds there?
Michael Caine has made many films in his illustrious career, not all of which have been anything to write home about. As Frank Jones though, I think this is definitely one of his better performances. He starts off fairly nondescriptly, which more or less parallels the rather boring storyline, but once his son has died, Caine comes into his own. His cold fury at what may have happened to his son is mesmerising, particularly as his eyes constantly seem to glitter with tears. At the same time, it is not a role that will have pushed Caine all that much - he has done so many similar performances and in a few month's time, I'm sure I will be hard-pushed to remember all that much about this one. That does, however, have as much to do with the dullness of the story as it does Caine's acting.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Nigel Havers as Bob Jones, looking suave and sophisticated, just as I remember him. It soon transpires that Bob is not that sophisticated; at least, he may be intelligent, but he doesn't have that much in the way of common sense. Havers pulls this off without any great difficulty. The problem I had was that, although there are about sixteen years between Michael Caine and Nigel Havers, the gap seems much less, and I struggled to believe that they were father and son. This wouldn't have been a problem had I had more to occupy me, but unfortunately with this film, I didn't.
There is a whole host of other famous British actors, which was a little off-putting at times, and I found my mind wandering. Gordon Jackson appears as a secret agent, and James Fox and John Gielgud have roles as high-ranking government officials. Barry Foster, who I remember from the Van Der Walk series, plays Frank's friend Charles Greig. None of these roles particularly stand out though, and frankly they could have been played by anyone, so I felt it was rather a waste of their combined talent.
The plot, when it finally gets going, is a good one and, had the film been made differently, it could have been much better than the finished product. My main problem with it is that the first hour is very slow moving and involves lots of whispered conversations in strange places that are being listened to back at GCHQ or wherever these secret agents were from. I am sure that director, Simon Langton, was trying to set the scene so that the action, when it happens, doesn't need much explanation. However, I found it all a little bit dull and didn't really begin to take interest until Bob's death, which is a good way into the film.
If I'm being honest, even when the film did get going, it wasn't much more than of passing interest to me, and I think that if Michael Caine didn't give the good performance that he does, I would have switched off. Thankfully, despite the slow start, the director saw fit to cap the film at 100 minutes, so I just about managed to get through it. I have to admit, however, that this genre, which I suppose is a spy thriller, is not really my cup of tea. I doubt very much that it will appeal to those who can't remember the Cold War either - this film was made towards the end of the Cold War when conspiracy theories prevailed and Communists rather than Muslim extremists were our enemy. I suppose it does have some bearing on modern day politics, but when there are much better films out there that deal with the topic, I can't see why this one would really capture anyone's attention.
I was given this DVD - I think it came free with a Sunday paper - so I can't really complain too much. I certainly would if I had paid for it. It isn't really a bad film, it just didn't really reach out and grab my attention either, and suspect I will remember it hereafter as one of Michael Caine's lesser-known films. That's a shame, because he did give a good performance. If you have an interest in the Cold War or absolutely must see every film that Caine appears in, then you should probably take the time to watch this. Otherwise, I don't think it's worth bothering with. Not recommended.
Advantages: A brilliant piece of acting by Michael Caine Disadvantages: A little slow in the first 15-20 minutes.
...Whistle Blower” DVD The Whistle Blower carries a Parental Guidance (PG) classification. The genre is Espionage/Drama and the film was first released in 1987. It has a run time of 1 hour 40minutes. The copy I am reviewing is a single disc edition with a limited special feature selection of Scene Selection and Photo Gallery. Cast, Director and Producer The DVD has a strong cast list which includes Michael Caine, Nigel Havers, John Gielgud, James ... ...is Simon Langton and the producers Geoffrey Reeve, Jim Reeve, John Kelleher, Peter Dolman and Philip Nugus . Soundtrack by John Scott. The Plot The Whistle Blower is based on a novel by John Hale, this film is basically a cold war spy story. Frank Jones (Michael Caine) is a war veteran, he served his country during the second world war and is now an ordinary civilian, a law abiding business man. Frank has a son, Bob, (Nigel Havers) of whom he ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: One off those old classic's Disadvantages: Not really for those young adult's.
I went visiting my Dad the other day he can't move to great so he tend's to sit in his chair watching alot of film's on DVD'S because it's alot easier for him to use well so he say's I just think he's being an old git so he can keep up with the gagets in life so we bought him a DVD player for his christmas and he phones regular as clock work for what DVD he want's this week. But this week I bet him to it. We were shopping in HMV for CD'S for my son ... ...chair. As I passed him the DVD his face just light up.(my dad is a victor meldrew)and then he gave me his face"don't just stand there, put it on"I knew he doesn't mean it as he wink's at my son and smiles when am not looking.
Then came the moment I had to sit the whole 100 minutes watching this film, that was to surprise me as I didn't think it would be my cup of tea at all.... My review of The Whistle Blower.
The film Cast Overview.
Michael Caine....Frank ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
The compelling mystery surrounds a talented linguist who works at a government information-gathering service in England and whose accidental death haunts his father. Unraveling the truth about his son's death, he discovers sinister, covert dealings that threaten the England he has always believed in.
Languages
Main Language: English
Technical information
Special Features: Scene Selection, Photo Gallery
Professional reviews
Review: "...Swift, economical and nicely detailed....The film's entire cast is a marvel..." (New York Times, p.C4, 10/07/1987)
"...[Caine] is excellent....His understatement is immensely moving..." (Variety, 21/05/1986)
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