The Whistle Blower

We've been here before. Bob Jones (Havers) is a translator in the Russian section at GCHQ. Following the trial of an employee, convicted of spying for the Eastern bloc, all personnel are requested to report any inconsistencies in the behaviour of their colleagues, and Bob becomes convinced that British intelligence is no better than the KGB. Meanwhile the CIA, worried about the apparent lack of security in England, begins to act with extreme prejudice. When Bob is bumped off, his father enters the fray to see that justice is done. In this role, Caine glides imperiously along, allowing none of the surrounding dross to tarnish his image. The rest of the cast do not come out of it so well. There are a couple of surprises, and the cynicism prevents the film from becoming overtly old-fashioned, but in general it is dreadful. The locations - Gloucester Cathedral, tourist Cheltenham, the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph - are stagy, the pace is slack, and the script pretentious.