It's incredible that this major 1984 release--next-to-last feature for the Oscar-winning director of "Butch Cassidy," "The Sting," "The World of Henry Orient," "Slap Shot," "The World According to Garp" and more--is so completely forgotten and hard to access now, even if it was a commercial disappointment.
Diane Keaton is miscast as le Carre's heroine, a British actress with liberal beliefs who is duped into infiltrating Palestinian terrorist ranks so that US/Israeli intelligence can in turn betray her and destroy the anti-Israeli cadre. In le Carre's novel, the central figure is an actress very young in years and naive politically. Not only was Keaton wrong in terms of age and nationality (she looks ridiculous in the boot-camp segments, but even more so in her early sequence as a U.S. actress improbably starring onstage in Shakespeare), but her unflattering frizzy hairdos and shoulder-padded costumes make her look even older.
(SPOILERS)
Nonetheless, her committed performance and Hill's deft handling of a very complicated narrative draw you in, eventually riveting attention. The violent climax is startling, Keaton's subsequent sequence of complete nervous breakdown as good as anything she's ever done. It's also worth seeing for stellar supporting performances by Sami Frey and an unusually subdued Klaus Kinski.
Diane Keaton is miscast as le Carre's heroine, a British actress with liberal beliefs who is duped into infiltrating Palestinian terrorist ranks so that US/Israeli intelligence can in turn betray her and destroy the anti-Israeli cadre. In le Carre's novel, the central figure is an actress very young in years and naive politically. Not only was Keaton wrong in terms of age and nationality (she looks ridiculous in the boot-camp segments, but even more so in her early sequence as a U.S. actress improbably starring onstage in Shakespeare), but her unflattering frizzy hairdos and shoulder-padded costumes make her look even older.
(SPOILERS)
Nonetheless, her committed performance and Hill's deft handling of a very complicated narrative draw you in, eventually riveting attention. The violent climax is startling, Keaton's subsequent sequence of complete nervous breakdown as good as anything she's ever done. It's also worth seeing for stellar supporting performances by Sami Frey and an unusually subdued Klaus Kinski.