S*P*Y*S
(aka SPYS or S-P-Y-S/1974)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C
I am a
big fan of the director Irvin Kershner and even his films that do not work are
always ambitious and interesting, though their failure can be all the more
frustrating. As a send-up of the CIA, S*P*Y*S (aka SPYS or S-P-Y-S/1974)
reunited counterculture icons Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould as two CIA
agents who are not stupid, but become as inept as their situations in this satire
that has promise, but gets lost early on.
The idea
was apparently to send up serious spy thrillers of the time (the Bond films had
become funnier at this point) but the turning point that is supposed to make
this hilarious backfires and the film falls apart despite the best efforts of
the director and actors. This happens
when they botch delivering a Soviet defection, but part of the problem is the
how of it. Is it because they are inept,
things just drift into that direction or that the Malcolm Marmorstein/Lawrence
J. Cohen/Fred Freeman screenplay cannot decide and if it is just to be
counterculture hip that this happens because they are “those guys from M*A*S*H,” that is just not good enough.
Instead
of What’s Up Doc? or a comedy
classic, the film never gets back on track and we are left seeing the leads to
what looks like the leads doing improvisation.
Unfortunately, this makes it more of a time capsule than anything else
as all the spy agencies (even the CIA) are out to get rid of them. Unfortunately, the Bond films and Pink Panther
films were funnier and more substantial at the time, especially in the case of
the over-criticized Bonds like Diamonds
Are Forever, Live & Let Die
and now cult favorite The Man With The
Golden Gun (all reviewed elsewhere on this site) in which writers Tom
Mankiewicz and Richard Maibaum did some underrated work.
Joss
Ackland, Zouzou, Vladek Sheybal, Michael Petrovich, Shane Rimmer and Nigel
Hawthorne also star. Too bad, because
the talent and intent is here, but it is just one of those cases where the film
got away from the makers, plain and simple.
I had not seen this film in decades to the point that I mostly forgot
about it. I can see why little stuck
with me, though many may think they have seen something involving the tiny
Citroen 2CV car. However, you were more
likely to see a yellow version as part of the great car chase in the 1981 Bond
film For Your Eyes Only (also
reviewed on this site) which was a tip of the hat to this film and a better use
of that funny little car. All in all, a
curio at best.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 is a little softer than expected and while the
DeLuxe color is good, while there is no problem with Gerry Fisher’s
cinematography. The Dolby Digital 2.0
Mono is fair, but the 2.0 Stereo upgrade features improved fidelity, especially
with the one thing that does work for the film; the terrific music score by
Jerry Goldsmith. Dialogue can show its
age, but this is as good an upgrade as we can expect. John Scott, whose music includes
instrumentals for TV’s Return Of The
Saint, rescored the film in Europe which is not included here as an
alternate track.
Extras
include the film The Road Of A Hundred
Days directed by Kershner for the U.S. Government, stills, the original
theatrical trailer and the Inside S*P*Y*S
featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
