The Sell Out (1977)
This action drama centers on a former CIA operative who grudgingly rejoins the spy game due to the machinations of his one-time student - a screw up who goes to work for the Soviets. As his job drags him deeper into a dangerous and under-handed world, the student wants out of the agency and oout of the U.S.S.R. But the man's choices have made him a target and now both the United States and Russia want him dead, sending their mos able hit men to do it.
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Good concept, poorly executed.
A Masterpiece!
if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
The potentially memorable screen teaming of Richard Widmark and Oliver Reed (the only one in both of their long careers) turns out to be quite forgettable indeed in this muddled spy thriller. A couple of decent action sequences (mostly car chases) cannot really save the uninteresting script. Both Widmark and Reed seem to be doing this one out of obligation, while the beautiful Gayle Hunnicutt has a pretty thankless role as Widmark's ill-fated wife. Even the Jerusalem setting doesn't give much distinction to the film. Overall, "The Sell-Out" might hold some interest for fans of the leads, but it's almost impossible to recommend it to anyone else. *1/2 out of 4.
Typical (and typically complex) Cold War spy saga, not the best in the genre by far – but still counting among its admirers film-geek supremo Quentin Tarantino! The narrative deals with hounded KGB man Oliver Reed who's wanted by one side and deemed expendable by the other; the only one who can help him is Richard Widmark, recently retired from the C.I.A. and currently living with Reed's ex-flame (Gayle Hunnicutt) in Israel! On Reed's trail are Sam Wanamaker of the C.I.A. and Vladek Sheybal of the KGB; an Israeli agent, who's trying to keep the situation under control, is sympathetic to Widmark but ends up paying for the interest with his life. As a film, It's watchable enough but hardly outstanding, despite a plethora of action sequences set to a pounding score and culminating in a desert trek fraught with peril. Even so, the star combo works surprisingly well (watching them dressed up in Jewish garb "praying" beneath the Weeping Wall is an unintentionally comic highlight), the supporting cast all pull their weight (particularly Sheybal's sleek but ruthless hit-man), and the overly-hysterical Hunnicutt is ultimately exposed as a femme fatale.THE SELL OUT is available on a budget DVD containing two other espionage titles (all under the dubious name of "Great Spy Movies"): these are the obscure THE INSIDE MAN (1984) – which, at least, offers some interest due to the presence in the cast of Dennis Hopper and Hardy Kruger – and the distinctly unappetizing HANGMEN (1987) with Sandra Bullock and Jake LaMotta!
A spy story filmed in Jerusalem with Richard Widmark and Oliver Reed, supported by Sam Wanamaker has all the makings of an interesting movie at least but which this film abjectly fails to realise. There is a sort of a plot but it is hard to follow, based I think on the idea that the CIA and the KGB in cahoots are bumping off their ex-agents so they can't talk about their past. Which just seems silly. Oliver Reed is the next on the list and he calls on retired agent Richard Widmark to help. Both male actors do their best but are defeated by the script. It doesn't help that Oliver Reed is strangely dubbed. Gayle Hunnicut is given a thankless role.The star of the film is the city of Jerusalem itself, being much more interesting than the plot unfolding in it. One kept thinking, get those actors out of the way so I can enjoy the scenery. Peter Collinson was an average director and this is a very average film.
A pretty good cast with lots of delightful bad guys. But what's the point. Who's who and what do they want? That's the problem. This is a mishmash of intrigue and espionage where we can't tell the characters without a program. We assume we are pulling for Richard Widmark and Oliver Reed, but we can't be sure. What makes a real spy story work is knowing the real milieu that is put forward. If everyone is flip-flopping back and forth within the story and if we don't have an identifiable end, we can't sense the suspense. I just couldn't get into this film. I like Reed and Widmark; they are two wonderful actors, but this must have been thrown together. The pyrotechnics are laughable. They use the old rule, if you can't come up with a plot, use a bunch of car chases. When all is said and done, who are these people answerable to. Is he CIA corrupt or is there a visible entity for us to fear. If there is, it's never brought forward in this film.