Masterpiece Contemporary: Page Eight

I agree with most of the reviews here: "Page Eight" is a superior offering from Masterpiece Contemporary. It has the adult writing and nuance one expects from the best of British-made television that finds it way to America. I'm a great fan of Bill Nighy, here playing Johnny Worricker, an intelligence analyst trying to get to the bottom of two issues: whether and why the truth about his lovely neighbor's brother's death in the Middle East has been suppressed, and how to cope with a report he sees that exposes Downing Street's knowledge about something that it would rush to deny knowing.The cast is, naturally, terrific: Rachel Weisz plays Nancy, Worricker's grieving neighbor, who may or may not have taken the flat opposite his deliberately; Michael Gambon plays Baron, Worricker's boss, who knows he has a dicey heart and therefore ensures that Worricker is aware of the report; Felicity Jones plays Julia, Worricker's estranged daughter; Alice Krieg plays her mother, Worricker's former wife, now married to Baron; and Ralph Fiennes plays the Prime Minister whose butt will be on the hot seat if the report gets out. Judy Davis does a wonderfully nasty turn as the bitchy, conniving head of Worricker's intelligence unit.But it is Bill Nighy's performance that anchors "Page Eight" - he blends sardonic cynicism with a still-beating conscience perfectly. His versatility never ceases to amaze me: not everyone can go from Victor the Vampire in "Underworld" to Johnny Worricker in "Page Eight"! Nighy is a true professional who knows his craft - you can also see him teamed with Weisz and Fiennes in the excellent, if disturbing film, "The Constant Gardener".I have watched "Page Eight" three times, and each time noticed something that I missed on the previous viewing. Some viewers may be uncomfortable with or sensitive to a one-sided political view that the plot involves (which I believe is derived from an actual event a few years ago in the Middle East) and I found myself questioning it, but the quality here is undeniable, and one can't deny quality due to political sensitivities.This is a stayer - you will return to it. Very highly recommended!

This is a highly watchable film, but it does have some issues, mostly in that it feels forced on many levels:(1) Although the product description does not state it, and there is no indication on the DVD case, this is actually the first movie in a trilogy. You can still watch it standalone, but the the ending will be a little dissatisfying in terms of it really being more of a lead to the next installment. But even though it is the first installment, I felt like it was missing something. There was not enough character backstory or character development for my liking. If anything, this felt like it should have been a second installment, after more of a baseline had been laid. The characters rush into actions, and especially relationships, in a way that makes little sense and feels very, very forced. You're exposed to multiple characters in a shotgun style that feels more like speed dating. Some people feel British shows are too slowly paced, but that is not the case here and it suffers for it. Little of the plot progression feels justified.(2) This is considered part of Masterpiece CONTEMPORARY. Maybe that is why the pace was forced, rather than being slowplayed such as in  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: A George Smiley Novel . This may be a conscious marketing decision to try to appeal to younger folks and be "edgy". But I felt it was trying too hard to feel contemporary, going out of its way right off the bat to include edgy contemporary art, a disdain for marriage, muslim coworkers in headscarves, etc., but in a way that felt very politically correct and again, forced. These are elements that could have worked, but it felt like they were included just as "check-boxes": if we are doing something contemporary, it MUST include certain things, and instead of an interesting character that just happens to be gay it felt more like "here is a gay character, check". None of these "contemporary" elements were integral or interesting.To its credit and partially saving it, it is very well cast, the acting is good, and it has an interesting story line. But it ultimately does not stand up to what it is trying to be, a more updated Tinker Tailor type story. Could have been much better, and in some cases a waste of talent from some fine actors who seemed reduced to cameos. 3 1/2 stars.

This is a fantastic British spy thriller charmed by the great and I think somewhat unknown bill nighy. I like this movie because the British have manners. They have manners that America seriously lacks, that are so well worth watching in this movie. It's an intellectual spy thriller with no car crashes, explosions, killings or other mayhem. In the modern era those things will go by the wayside in favor of electronic spying, and people have to use their brains to solve things rather than kill each other. Bill nighy is joined by the shockingly white skinned Rachel Weisz. This girl hasn't seen the sun in 50 years. She plays the gal that gets him into all the trouble to begin with. It's a great cast of characters punctuated by all the typical dreary British weather, dark alleys and cloak and dagger stuff we love so much. This movie has it all. Bill nighy was born to play this role, and I watch this movie a few times a year. My only gripe was that I had no idea there were two other movies in the series, I found out totally by accident. And then waited months for kindle to come out with it at an affordable price. The second one of the series set in the triopics has none of the flavor and atmosphere that the first and third movies in the series have. Page eight is the best of the three. You can't lose, this is a great movie. Buy it, watch it again and again. You can never get tired of bill nighy's character. He's just too fascinating.

I don't know why - I expected it to be longer. As it was I fell asleep during it. Liked the Turks and Caicos better. I am a big fan of Bill Nighy usually.

hat das Niveau eines der neueren Bond-Filme. Andererseits zeigt der Film Schauspieler, die ein gepflegtes Cambridge-Englisch sprechen und entsprechende Umgangsformen spielen (können). Kommando zurück: Das gepflegte Cambridge-Englisch hört man sozusagen nur in der dt. Synchronisation, in engl. Tonspur sprechen sie eher normales Englisch. Wenn das Drehbuch doch eine gute Geschichte mit anspruchsvollen Dialogen vorgesehen hätte...Ich weiß nicht, womit sich Geheimdienste beschäftigen, mit diesem Quatsch mit Sicherheit nicht. Ewan Brenner alias Spud (Trainspotting) passt so überhaupt nicht in diesen Film.

Zwei Missverständnisse, die man beim Kauf dieser Serie vermeiden sollte:1. Die Handlungsbeschreibung verspricht Spannung mit Qualität. Leider wird dieses Versprechen nicht eingelöst, da Autor und Regisseur David Hare das Medium Film nicht verstanden hat. Gezeigt werden Schauspieler, die Texte vortragen. Diese Texte sollen erklären und ausgleichen, was durch die Bilder nicht gezeigt wird. Wer Filme liebt, wird dies langweilig finden.2. Der Cast ist beeindruckend. Leider dürfen die Schauspieler nicht spielen, sie vertonen lediglich Text.Wer sein Metier nicht beherrscht, redet sich die zurecht ausbleibende Anerkennung gerne dadurch schön, dass es sich bei seiner Arbeit eben um hohe Qualität handelt, die nicht jeder versteht. Für nervige Qualitätsbewusste dieses Schlags und alle, die durch Langeweile zur Lust finden, ist diese Filmtrilogie ein passendes Geschenk.

Der Film ist der erste Teil einer Trilogie von Agentenfilmen, die für das britische Fernsehen (BBC) produziert wurde. Bill Nighy spielt hier einen in Würde gealterten Geheimagenten, der jetzt im Innendienst tätig ist und nach dem Tod seines Vorgesetzten einem politischen Geheimnis auf die Spur kommt. Der Film ist bis in die Nebenrollen hochkarätig besetzt und wurde in gewohnt hoher Qualität von der BBC produziert. Allerdings handelt es sich um keinen Thriller; es gibt keine Action-Szenen und den Hauptteil des Filmes machen Dialogszenen aus. Eher etwas für Freunde der gepflegten britischen Fernsehunterhaltung und der geschliffenen Darstellerleistungen.

Trotz der hochkarätigen Besetzung, die auch wirklich gut spielt, baut der Film zu langsam Spannung auf und nimmt einen nicht wirklich mit. Als man denkt, jetzt geht es endlich los, ist es eigentlich schon wieder vorbei. Man hätte mehr draus machen können, so bleibt am am Ende als Zuschauer etwas enttäuscht zurück.

Alles in Ordnung, danke.