Three Days of The Condor (1975)

Three Days of the Condor (1975) – A CIA researcher working in a quiet little office goes out to pick up lunch for everyone.  When he comes back, everyone has been murdered and the hit team is after him as well.  On the run, he kidnaps a woman and tries to get a straight answer from an organization he doesn’t fully trust.

Directed by Sydney Pollock                   Starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Max Von Sydow

Why I Liked It – A twitchy spy thriller where the question is always “Who can you trust?”

I’m really torn on this one.  I will watch this movie any time it’s on.  At the same time, there’s something just a little “off” with it.  “Condor” (Redford) is not a field agent, he’s an analyst.  He reads books, magazines, news of all kinds, looking for anything odd, especially connections.  In the course of doing that, he has stumbled onto something that some folks want hidden.  What bothers me is that once he’s on the run, he is capable of making ruthless decisions.  It never reads right to me.  Redford is this slightly shy, affable nerd who flips a switch to become “secret agent man”.  He makes some dumb decisions too, which strikes me as much more likely.  It never goes fully off the rails for me, but it always nags a bit.

I’m also not a huge fan of the “romance” storyline here.  It’s better than the one in “Major League” (which is the single most useless romantic subplot in the history of the movies), but I never feel any chemistry here. Part of that is that I’ve never understood the allure of Faye Dunaway.  Talented actress, without question, but always strikes me as cold and distant.  Hard to warm up to her character’s plight here.

So, why the conflict?  Because the interplay between Redford and Max Von Sydow is brilliant.  Von Sydow’s hitman is cool, intellectual, and professional. His awareness of the dangers, both physical and psychological, of his chosen line of work brings a depth and empathy to a category of character we don’t often get.  They could junk the Dunaway storyline, and expand this relationship and made this a much better movie.

In the end, I can’t ignore the bits that bother me.  But I’ll still keep watching it every time it comes on.

Rating -*** Worth A Look