Topaz

Despite the odd critical effort to salvage the film's reputation, it has to be said that Hitchcock's lumbering adaptation of Leon Uris' novel, about international espionage at the time of the Cuban missile crisis, has not aged well. The near-incomprehensible plot (something about French and American agents trying to find out more about a Russian undercover group, directly involved with Cuba and working within the French security network) might appeal to devotees of Le Carré et al, but it certainly doesn't make for dramatically exciting cinema, especially given Hitchcock's flat, seemingly uninterested direction. The bland performances don't help much, either.