★ 6 / 10
Catch Me a Spy has some structure issues
R T
Catch Me a Spy has some structure issues, because the opening scenes are not humorous enough to set the tone of the movie that follows. This is a satire of spy…
Catch Me a Spy has some structure issues, because the opening scenes are not humorous enough to set the tone of the movie that follows. This is a satire of spy films, and yet it wasn’t until about 20 minutes in that I first sensed any humor. At about 30 minutes into the film I had a genuine laugh, and that’s when I realized that it was intended to be a comedy. The main storyline is quite silly (once it gets going,) as Marlène Jobert spends most of the film trying to find a spy so she can trade with Russia for her husband who is a spy they have captured. Her futile attempts to locate a spy using silly stereotypes are entertaining, and a few of the people she meets along the way are funny as well. They just needed something a little more off-the-wall to open the film in order to set expectations properly, and the ending needed a good comedic pop that it lacked. Kirk Douglas is alright in the film, but doesn’t seem to have much chemistry with Jobert. They have a few good scenes together, but they never sell me on the romance that is supposed to develop between them. But the biggest problem with Catch Me a Spy is that it doesn’t remain consistently entertaining. Thankfully, it has moments that worked quite well, and it has a funny idea at its core. The ending left me a bit underwhelmed, and it is the kind of movie I might forget about given enough time, but I’m glad I gave it a shot.
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★ 4 / 10
Mediocre espionage caper, which only comes to life when most people will have switched off.
barnabyrudge
A light and completely inoffensive spy spoof, To Catch A Spy is not the kind of film that demands high calibre acting talent. Yet for reasons best known to…
A light and completely inoffensive spy spoof, To Catch A Spy is not the kind of film that demands high calibre acting talent. Yet for reasons best known to themselves, established stars like Kirk Douglas, Trevor Howard, Marlene Jobert and Tom Courtenay lend their skills to this 1971 potboiler, making it seem a bigger and better picture than it really is. The first three quarters of the movie are virtually a total loss, with dispirited plotting and pacing, but it perks up into something resembling life during the final quarter as the action shifts to a secluded, deserted Scottish hotel. By this time, most viewers will have given up the ghost - but for the handful still watching these climactic scenes are actually quite amusing.
Married couple Fabienne (Marlene Jobert) and John (Patrick Mower) are honeymooning in Bucharest when the latter is arrested by the secret police. The anxious Fabienne is forced to return to Britain without him. Meanwhile, it is revealed to the viewers that John is actually a spy working for the Russians, and that his arrest was just an elaborate deception created so that they could contact him. Fabienne is duped into believing that John is now a hostage, his only hope of release being that the British secret service might release one of their Russian prisoners in exchange for him. Still unaware of the double-cross, Fabienne works tirelessly with her uncle Sir Trevor (Trevor Howard) - a foreign office diplomat - to get the British government to trade a Russian spy for her husband. Just when it seems that a deal has been struck, the spy they choose to bargain with is accidentally killed. Fabienne instead sets her sights on Romanian spy Andrej (Kirk Douglas), but as she tries desperately to trap him in order to use him in the exchange, she discovers herself to be falling in love with him. All is resolved in a last-minute revelation at an exchange-rendezvous-point near the Iron Curtain.
To Catch A Spy was penned by the expert comedy script duo Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement (the latter also directed), but they seem to be having an off-day. The film looks terribly dated, with a storyline that resurrects all the clichés of the spy movies and caper movies that were popular at the time. Of the main actors, Tom Courtenay registers best, providing some mirth as an inept agent. The others don't disgrace themselves, but they're stuck with nothing roles and can't really get across characterisations worth caring about. The film is occasionally pleasing to the eye, with some interesting locations, but on the whole it is a rather uninspired and unremarkable time killer. Everyone involved has certainly done much better.
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33%
TOMATOMETER
· 6 reviews
33%
AUDIENCE
5.2/10
488
