Film: Jack Strong

Well now, another surprise! I was planning on seeing The Crash Reel tonight, but then it occurred to me that I'd better check out the trailer, not being a big fan of snowboarding, myself. Sure enough, I had zero interest. So that's now been permanently removed from my film list. Which left the highest-rated - according to IMDB - film I could find showing tonight as something called Jack Strong.

Now, when I decided this was ok to go see, I didn't check out the above link to the film. I just went with the bare-bones description on IMDB - a Polish Cold War spy thriller. Rated at 7.9 (now dropped to 7.8, I see). That was enough to spark my interest. When I checked where it was showing, I discovered it was only showing in Cineworld - and only in five of them, at that! - Hammersmith was the closest. Now, I found that curious - when I first moved to London, that was my closest cinema, but I hardly ever went there because the selection was so bad. And they are one of only five cinemas screening this! Odd..

Quickest way there was to get the bus, which goes from just up the road from my place, and runs right past the cinema - so that's what I did. I was actually first on, the bus having only just left the garage. My, the nostalgia at being back there again! I was a little early, so had time for a quick run to the toilet beforehand - where they have nattily named the stalls after film stars. I visited the Meryl Streep. ;-)

I detected many Polish accents, from what I could tell. As I waited for the film to start, it occurred to me - of course, every time I walked up there, I passed many Polish-themed shops, and there's a Polish theatre just up the road. There must be a large Polish community locally - no wonder they screened this!

And so to the film. Set mainly in Poland, and starring mainly Polish actors - none of whom is familiar to me - it does, however, have one familiar face - Patrick Wilson, of all people, who plays the CIA handler responsible for the Polish spy who is the film's hero. He'll be familiar to anyone who's seen The Conjuring, or the Insidious films, where he does battle with ghosts and demons. He also appeared in Prometheus, and Morning Glory, where he played the boyfriend of an intensely irritating Rachel McAdams. I walked out of that film. I wasn't the only one. Not his fault. Anyway, in this one, he gets to show off his Polish-speaking skills! Who knew..

So - the title refers to the codename of a real-life senior Polish military official, who, sick of the Soviet occupation of his country, smuggled military secrets to the CIA during the 1970s, until the net started to close in on him. To give any more of the plot away would be truly criminal. I will say, however, that this is as tense a thriller as I've seen in a long time, and so good that I am stunned that I saw and heard absolutely no advertising for it. I mean, I was gripping the arms of my seat. I was watching through my fingers. I was gasping and uttering expletives and exclamations.

A good Cold War thriller will be very tense, and this has all the classic elements. Military uniforms, spy cameras hidden in cigarette lighters. In a pre-internet and pre-mobile age, this spy must communicate on a sort of mini-typewriter with a broadcasting capability - a high-tech new invention. Which keeps losing signal - plus ca change! Most of the action takes place in Warsaw, and everywhere we see in the Eastern bloc has snow on the ground. Permanently, even though the film spans about 10 years. The spy himself is quite pleasant to the eye (was in real life, too). And the film includes what must be the slowest car chase I've ever seen on screen, the cars skidding on slush. Which is also one of the most exciting I've ever seen.

Really highly recommended, for those into thrillers. Go see!

For tomorrow, I finally managed to get a ticket to Common People, which has been continuously sold out when it's been shown. This week, it's showing tomorrow only, and I got one of the last six seats at Clapham Picturehouse, the only cinema showing it. I just checked now, and there's exactly one seat left. Move fast, if you want to see it! Also showing there next Sunday and Thursday..