Turks & Caicos (2014)
The second movie in David Hare's Johnny Worricker trilogy. Loose-limbed spy Johnny Worricker, last seen whistleblowing at MI5 in Page Eight, has a new life. He is hiding out in Ray-Bans on the Caribbean islands of the title, eating lobster and calling himself Tom Eliot (he’s a poet at heart). We’re drawn into his world and his predicament when Christopher Walken strolls in as a shadowy American who claims to know Johnny. The encounter forces him into the company of some ambiguous American businessmen who claim to be on the islands for a conference on the global financial crisis. When one of them falls in the sea, their financial PR seems to know more than she's letting on. Worricker soon learns the extent of their shady activities and he must act quickly to survive when links to British prime minister Alec Beasley come to light.
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I wanted to but couldn't!
Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful
Don't Believe the Hype
Best movie ever!
You might not know all their names, but you've seen them time and again in numerous productions through the years. This film is a perfect example that putting lots of well know faces on the screen is absolutely no guarantee of creating a good movie. There are a couple 'off' performances, but on the whole the main issue is with the script.. it's just flat out boring. It's even a struggle to get out the ten required lines for this review. Nothing is remotely interesting, and every character portrayed (too many) are just plain dull. That's not easy to do.. normally Ryder, Walken, Nighy and Bonham-Carter are much more engaging (should they have the material to work with)... half the equation just isn't going to get it done.
I had not seen the original Worricker film 'Page Eight' but having enjoyed Bill Nighy's work in other things I decided to give this a go.As a well crafted piece of television drama this is as good as it gets. From the tight script to the almost dream cast you don't see everyday in television drama's this is quality in amongst a schedule full of rubbish. It's a crying shame this got buried on a Thursday night on BBC 2. Nighy as ever is brilliant. If you thought you'd seen every sort of spy then watch this because Nighy is so at ease in this role. The only negative point is that if you want a big explosion heavy spy thriller then look somewhere else because this is not that. Here people talk about the state of the world, go for walks, talk a bit and then talk some more. The action is minimal. I admire many aspects of this drama but I feel that 90 minutes of build up to a very small amount of action unfufilling. I enjoyed the follow up 'Salting The Battlefield' far more.
I was looking forward to watching Turks and Caicos, with its enviable cast list and intriguing plot. However, it turned out to be one of the WORST films I have ever seen (probably top 3). It was completely devoid of interest, depth or character. I spent the whole hour and a half waiting for something to happen and by the time something seemed to be happening at the end I found I was utterly uninterested. I hadn't engaged with any of the characters, perhaps because they were all one-dimensional. The whole film felt like it was rushed; written in an afternoon with some political references shoe-horned in and none of it fitting together at all. Everything felt contrived. Perhaps it was just badly edited, so that it jerked along with no real direction. At no point did I feel any empathy for the characters or care what was happening, let alone feel any sense of tension. Winona Ryder's character and performance would have been described as hammy and lacking in depth in a daytime soap. This 'Frank and Gary' that we barely met at the start suddenly turn into central characters from nowhere. Rupert Graves' character also turns out to be important yet he hardly has any lines and carries nothing of the powerful man he is supposed to be. Christopher Walken appeared to be doing a caricature of himself. It would have been disappointing and underwhelming as a low-budget, obscure-channel, daytime production. It should have been good but it instead it was truly truly awful. It has no redeeming qualities. Everyone involved should feel embarrassed.
T&C is one of those rare things on British TV these days, quality story line with brilliant actors. I really enjoyed the pace and tone of the whole film, with each actor bringing a different feel to each scene. Bill Nighy plays the suave MI5 agent with aplomb and combined with Christopher Walken playing a CIA stooge (excellently may I add) made this a winner in my eyes. Excellent setting with superb production. For a TV film, I cant rate it highly enough. My only critique of the film is the sometimes jerky delivery of the lines, I mean, Bill Nighy isn't really associated with long flowing diatribe but sometimes it seemed as if all the different actors were fighting for screen time. Almost an embarrassment of riches in some respect but still this doesn't take the sheen of what is in essence an excellent TV film and well worth the licence fee.