Read our editors' picks for the movies and shows we're watching in March, including "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," Boss Level, and Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Check out the most anticipated movies and TV to stream in March, including Zack Snyder's Justice League, Godzilla vs. Kong, and more.
Related lists from IMDb users
Title: The Secret Agent (1996)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Bob Hoskins | ... | Verloc | |
| Patricia Arquette | ... | Winnie | |
| Gérard Depardieu | ... | Ossipon | |
| Jim Broadbent | ... | Chief Inspector Heat | |
| Christian Bale | ... | Stevie | |
| Roger Hammond | ... | Mr. Michaelis | |
| Eddie Izzard | ... | Vladimir | |
 |
Ralph Nossek | ... | Yundt |
| Neville Phillips | ... | Ticket Clerk | |
| Elizabeth Spriggs | ... | Winnie's Mother | |
| Peter Vaughan | ... | The Driver | |
| Julian Wadham | ... | The Assistant Commissioner | |
London of the late 19th century is a haven for political exiles of all sorts - refugees, partisans, anarchists. Verloc has made his living spying for the Russian government, an agent provocateur of sorts, while simultaneously providing information to the London police, specifically Chief Inspector Heat. When the new Russian ambassador demands he prove his worth or lose his salary, Verloc sets off a tragic chain of events that involves his pretty young wife Winnie, her intellectually disabled brother Stevie, and a figure called the Professor, whose fascination with explosives and destruction makes him the person to call on when Verloc needs a bomb. Written by Gary Dickerson <slug@mail.utexas.edu>
Whoever cares about international terrorism? It's just a boring subject, let's face it. Any objections? Well, I can understand if there are some. This film, however, might unexpectedly make you accept the truth of the above provocative statements. At least until the next time you zap to a TV news channel that is.
It's hard not to see awesome potential in doing an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 'The Secret Agent'. And it's hard to believe such a boring and inconsequential mess could be created following up on that very idea. Incredible, just think of the following issues explored in the movie: a web of anarchist militants finding political refuge in 1880s London, an agent provocateur run by the Russian embassy, a would-be suicide bomber, human drama complicating plots and counter-plots and so on. If I managed to excite you a little by mentioning these themes, so sorry, the film will still be boring.
To say something positive, at least it's not altogether unwatchable and, totally unexpectedly for me, the scenes between two actors from whom I would have normally anticipated the least were actually some of the best moments of the film, the scenes between Robin Williams and Gérard Depardieu, both playing anarchists with a rather mysterious (anarchic?) mindset. Oh, and it's quite likely I'll read the book after all, for what I have seen at least was enough to convince me that it might be a good idea.