Missing A Couple Pieces

 The Jigsaw Man (1983)- The most infamous defector in English history is sent back from the USSR to retrieve an important document.  A new face and identity won’t help him with a variety of old personal and professional challenges.

Directed by Terrence Young 

Starring Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier

Why I Liked It – A veteran director takes the pieces he’s been given and almost completes the puzzle.

Inspired by the events surrounding the greatest spy scandal in
English history (Philby, Burgess, McLean), the movie adds one more defector to the story. Philip Kimberly was the head
of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, whose future might have included the
Prime Minister’s office. Instead, his role as a Soviet agent forced him to
defect. Now the Soviets have changed his appearance and sent him back
to England to retrieve an important document.  His daughter and an old friend/opponent are just two of the stumbling blocks to what may be the biggest double cross in history.  Both his current employers and his previous ones have designs on his future.

There’s not a lot to
get excited about here. The story is only OK with a HUGE info dump at
the start. Caine is awkward in the role, and this is far from Olivier’s best
work. He has moments when you see the master actor, but at times he leans
too heavily on bombast. Sadly, a too common event at this point in his career. It all kind of collapses at the end, with a weak, sort of surprise ending.  Didn’t grab me.  Add to it an illogical closing song by Dionne Warwick that feels totally out of place. The good news is that Terrence Young has the skill to sew this all together into something watchable.  Young was the director of several classic Bond films (“Dr. No”, “Thunderball” and “To Russia, With Love”), so he can handle the action scenes amidst the spy/defector bits.  It’s enough to save the movie.

There’s
a curious piece of history in the production of this movie. They ran
out of funding about half way through. The production was shut down till
new, though reduced funding was found. If you watch, you can tell which
scenes were shot in which order. Example- watch Olivier’s beard in his
first scene (where’s it’s awful) to later versions.

Despite it’s shortcomings, there’s still something charming about this one.  Don’t expect too much from “The Jigsaw Man” and you will enjoy the ride.

Rating – *** Worth A Look