Customer Reviews

Hidden Agenda [VHS]

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This thriller is supported by uncluttered and steadily paced direction by writer/director Iain Paterson and Kevin Dillon in the leading role of the brother of an American killed in re-unified Berlin. The opening sequence of a clandestine deal shattered by betrayals of loyalty tells us that Paterson hasn't chosen his locale as Berlin for naught, and soon we're mired in the webs of the US embassy, the German police, and the STASI, the former East German secret police. Whilst he occasionally falls back on formula with the I forgot something in my office routine, and the scream of a maid who discovers a corpse gets a laugh because of the cliche, Paterson also shows some originality. The crying of horses in a stable whilst guns are pointed is relieved by the use of a horseshoe as a weapon, we immediately know someone is an hitman because he stubs out a cigarette on the floor of a church, there is an unusual eye torture, and a love scene is interrupted by an external assassination attempt. The water from a puddle splashed onto the camera by a motorbike in a chase is a bit too self-conscious, but I liked a cut from a business name on a letter to the same name on the building. Paterson's script can sometimes be rudimentary, with characters repeating questions as their answer, but there is an amusing "just say no" joke in response to an offer of drugs. One can have fun projecting onto the brother plot considering the casting of Dillon, who shares Matt's semi-stupid personage, but Kevin's polite likeability overcomes the need for him to be an action hero. There is an end credit tribute to JT Walsh who presumably died post-production. Whilst his role doesn't set off fireworks he does get to wear a silly fut hat, and he plays well off Christopher Plummer doing his charming old man act as the head of police.

With all the over the top action spy thrillers out there, this one seems a bit pale by comparison. It is not that there is anything bad about the movie, it just lacks a good hook. There are plot twists which seem to be there because they are expected. The action scenes lack action. The token torture scene, as seen on the box, reminds us of Clockwork Orange, and how much better a movie that was. The item everyone is looking for is a disk which contains the names of former secret police and their informants, something everyone seems to want, yet claim is really immaterial. So we end up with what appears to be a made for TV movie with minimum action, some predictable plot twists, in which everyone is getting killed over something that doesn't really matter. It is almost as if they intended to make a lame movie.