Search - Spy Games on DVD

Delightful little romantic thriller

Gregor Krause | Chico, CA USA | 12/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I must say I'm amazed by the vitriol the southerners have spilled on this entirely amiable little film. I found the movie an absolutely delightful surprise, never even having heard of it before stumbling upon it in the video store. The romance is sweet and sexy and completely charming, the satire of the Cold War extremely witty and clever, and the faintly submerged parody of Cold War and spy thrillers genuinely hilarious. The plot SEEMS complicated, but that is just parodying the intricacy of straight thrillers. When you get down to it, the plot of Spy Games is neither very complicated nor hard to follow. It's not trying to be the brilliantly tortuous Defense of the Realm; it's parodying and paying homage to movies like that at the same time. It reminded me very much of the great British TV movie Sleepers, which seems to be unavailable in any form now.That said, however, the thriller aspects are just loopy and lumpy enough that they probably wouldn't carry the movie by themselves. But bolstering them is the genuinely sexy, sweet, believable adult romance between Bill Pullman and Irène Jacob.I don't understand the criticism of the dialogue, either (or the complaint about the unintelligibility of the "presumably Finnish" actors-the cast consists mainly of Americans, French, and German performers; the only Finns I can remember who even HAVE dialogue are the shopkeeper and the hotel maid and bellboy). I wouldn't describe it as a golden script, by any means, with every line a winner (a fair amount of exposition is required in any movie like this-and the performances are so quirky and funny that I liked even these parts), but much of the dialogue is so funny that I'm laughing out loud just remembering it.The movie is very European, from its attitude and sense of humor to its pacing and overall sensibility. That may be an acquired taste, but I thought this was the best movie I've seen in about the last year."

"Historiaa Tehdään Ã-isin"

Robert Malmberg | Helsinki, FINLAND | 02/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ilkka Järvi-Laturi one of the Finnish great film directors brings something different to the screen with major stars! I heard that this movie was flop in America. Well, I'll understand that, this picture touches only Finnish people and especially people who lived in the capital. Almost every exterior shots have been filmed in Helsinki, only some short parts in northern Finland. The reason why this film interest so many Finns is that, Bill Pulman is in locations where you don't really imagine see that fellow -big Hollywood name. Anyway, this is the first large budget Hollywood picture, where city of Helsinki plays in it's own! (Not some Russian city, like all other films before that)."

Spy Games Confused

ROBIN MCCALL | Chula Vista, California United States | 08/24/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As I watched this movie, I came to the conclusion that it was slapstick comedy. That is the only way to describe it. I like Bill Pullman in comedy, and I love Irene Jacob in anything, particularly Incognito, but this movie was just plain fun to watch, as long as you like slapstick. I would have given the movie 5 stars but the DVD music kept interfering with the actor's lines. If you don't like slapstick, don't watch this, otherwise, enjoy."