Scandal (1989)

You won't be disappointed!

Pretty Good

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

In this retelling of the Profumo scandal of 1963, ministers of Britain's Conservative Party carry on affairs with exotic dancers. Despite the juicy subject matter, there isn't much of a plot to sustain interest. It's basically gold diggers Whalley-Kilmer and Fonda having a series of affairs with powerful men and then the downfall of the men. The film tends to meander, with incongruent scenes of Whalley-Kilmer's affairs with a couple of drug-dealing black men. Whalley-Kilmer is quite alluring, and it is not hard to believe that men would risk their careers for dalliances with her. Hurt is fine as a doctor who introduces the girls to the ministers.

More then thirty years before Monica Lewinsky nearly destroyed Bill Clinton's presidency, Christine Keeler brought down the sitting British government. Her affair with then Minister Of War John Profumo, the scandal that followed and the effect it had on those involved is the subject of Michael Caton-Jones' 1989 film Scandal. Caton-Jones, with the help of a first rate cast and script, brings to life the scandal that brought down the British government.The film's cast is fantastic to say the least. Leading it is John Hurt as Osteopath/Playboy Stephen Ward and Joanne Whalley as the infamous Christine Keeler. Both are well cast, Whalley being a very good physical match for Keeler especially, and both give what seem to be honest performances as people who find themselves going from the time of the their lives to the worst moments of it. Right behind them are Bridget Fonda and Ian McKellen as the other two major players in the scandal: Mandy Rice-Davies and John Profumo respectively. The supporting cast includes Jeroen Krabbe as Soviet naval attaché Eugene Ivanov, Jean Alexander as Keeler's mother, Leslie Phillips as Bill aka Lord Astor and James Villiers as an MP. The cast is fantastic and helps to sell the realistic recreation of the scandal.The realism is also helped by the production values as well. The production design of Simon Holland and the costumes of Jane Robinson bring to life the late 1950s-early 1960s world of the film from lurid clubs to country estates and the halls of government. Mike Molloy's cinematography is key to much of the film as it often gives the viewer a feeling of being a fly on the wall of the events taking place. There are moments also where it gives the viewer a feeling of what it must have been like as the scandal grows and the world closes around some of the characters. Angus Newton's editing helps that as well even though the film itself seems to be just a bit too long. All of this, under the superb direction of Caton-Jones makes the film's recreation of this world seemingly complete.That wouldn't the case though without the script. Drawing from a number of different sources listed towards the end of the film's end credits, Scandal traces the journey from 1959 to 1963 as what starts out as Ward's attempt to introduce the beautiful, young Keeler to his friends in high places leads to a scandal that destroys the sitting British government. The script by Michael Thomas is more then just a simple accounting of the scandal though. It is a study of the different people involved in it and how, by accident more then design, then found themselves caught up in it. Scandal takes the viewer into a world of sex, booze and above all else hypocrisy. This is no better illustrated then in a scene early in the film where a group (including Ward and Keeler) are in a nightclub, surrounded by scantily clad women, celebrating the victory of the Conservative government in the 1959 UK general election. The result is an eye opening journey into the human side of an infamous political scandal.From its first rate cast, production values, direction and script Scandal is a fine example of history being brought to life on film. It is a journey into a world of sex, booze and hypocrisy that bred an infamous scandal that brought down a sitting British government almost fifty years ago. It is also a journey into the human cost of that scandal told in a way that is haunting, realistic and perhaps even truthful as well.

This is an excellent movie on the political scandal that hit UK in 1960s. No wonder so many British actors rejected to act in this movie. The central character in this story is about this beautiful girl (Bridget Fonda) and her relation with several prominent British politicians of her time along with a Russian diplomat. It shows the underlying facts and ironies of British political system. While watching the movie one is spell-bound from beginning to the end. This movie is about people and their relations with other people. The scene where Bridget Fonda is running from one man to the other (fresh out of swimming pool) sums up the movie in fact. No, I am not talking of glamor associated with Fonda running around. The scene expresses the sense of the movie in a nutshell. It is a story of a woman who is trying to find her place in the world, about a man who can manipulate people to achieve his end, about a scandalous politician, in fact about so many colorful people that it is impossible to specify here. Please watch the movie if you ever get a chance. If you like intrigue, drama, corruption and beautiful women, not to mention political scandals, then it is the movie for you. This is the perfect movie for late night over the weekends! I have decided to give it nine stars, but it could easily have been ten....

Stories based on true-life situations are common place. This is primarily because us "normal" people are fascinated by others shortcomings. This movie, is none the less, very interesting and well done. It genuinely has the look of a 60's movie even though it was done in 1989.We can only look at some of the characters, and if we are compassionate in any way, feel some sort of pity for the people portrayed in this movie. As such, the movie does as it should. It takes you from your own reality for a short period of time and gives you a glimpse at what real life is like from a different perspective.I enjoyed this movie, as much as any true-based story. Maybe even a slight bit more as it doesn't need any of the over-used violence and blood of what most true-based stories seem to need. It is intense without Hollywood glamour.