Page Eight (2011)

Johnny works for MI5. His neighbor Nancy approaches him. When his best friend and boss suddenly dies, Johnny's left to sort out things about the PM, MI5 and US.

Director:

David Hare

Writer:

David Hare

Stars:

Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Tom Hughes

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Nighy	...	Johnny Worricker
Rachel Weisz	...	Nancy Pierpan
Tom Hughes	...	Ralph Wilson
Michael Gambon	...	Benedict Baron
Judy Davis	...	Jill Tankard
Rakhee Thakrar	...	Muna Hammami
Saskia Reeves	...	Anthea Catcheside
Ewen Bremner	...	Rollo Maverley
Felicity Jones	...	Julianne Worricker
Richard Lintern	...	Max Vallance
Holly Aird	...	Anna Hervé
Andrew Cleaver	...	Brian Lord
Kate Burdette	...	Allegra Betts
Ralph Fiennes	...	Alec Beasley
Alice Krige	...	Emma Baron

Storyline

Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) is a long-serving MI5 officer. His boss and best friend Benedict Baron (Sir Michael Gambon) dies suddenly, leaving behind him an inexplicable file, threatening the stability of the organization. Meanwhile, a seemingly chance encounter with Johnny's striking next-door neighbor and political activist Nancy Pierpan (Rachel Weisz) seems too good to be true. Johnny is forced to walk out of his job, and then out of his identity to find out the truth. Set in London and Cambridge, this is a contemporary spy movie for the BBC, which addresses intelligence issues and moral dilemmas particular to the new century.

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Plot Keywords:

mi5 | spy | political thriller | blackmail | prime minister | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer and Director David Hare has told some associates that if this movie works, he might bring Bill Nighy's character Johnny Worricker back, as part of a trilogy of television movies.

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Goofs

As Johnny Worricker is driving through Westminster at night he is listening to the Shipping Forecast which is broadcast at 00:48 and 05:20. The time on the Clock Tower (Big Ben) shows 01:53.

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Quotes

Johnny Worricker: The purpose of intelligence is to find the truth, not to confirm what we already believe. We're meant to look for what's there, not for what we want to be there.
Rollo Maverley: Come on, Johnny! Once they wanted communists, we gave them communists. Now they want Arabs, we give them Arabs. They decide what they're looking for, we find it for them.

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Connections

Featured in The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards (2012)

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Soundtracks

Fine and Mellow
written by Billie Holiday
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp
Performance of Billie Holiday used with permission as presented

User Reviews

When you don't know the truth everything freezes and you can't move on.

When I see Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, and Ralph Fiennes in a cast, I know I have to check it out. I was not sorry I did. The three were together in at least one other great film - The Constant Gardener. Individually, there is seldom a really good film that doesn't have one of the three.

Of course the Golden Globes and BAFTA agree with me as they both gave the film a nomination.

The Prime Minster (Fiennes) seems to be up to his neck in deception. The meeting between Nighy and he was fascinating.

Page Eight was a positive surprise with good dialogue and an engaging story.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 2011 (UK)

Also Known As:

Page 8

Filming Locations:

Chelsea Embankment, Chelsea, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Heyday Films, Runaway Fridge TV, Carnival Film & Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1