The MacKintosh Man

source: The MacKintosh Man

Trailer—The MacKintosh Man

The MacKintosh Man

I watched this because of Paul Newman and the fact it was supposed to be a spy thriller. Didn't find it very thrilling at all. I think I am so used to current day films now this feels like a dinosaur in comparison. Not slick at all. The acting was OK except for the French woman who was so incredibly wooden. And the worst atrocity was Newman's Australian accent.

While never actively bad, this thriller just isn't exceptional. The first half isn't bad (we keep wondering why Newman is doing these things, and we wonder where he's going and what's going to happen), though it somehow lacks "oomph" to everything. In the second half, it starts to get dull. You won't be clear on everything in the end, and the climax came off more as a whimper than a bang. Nowhere near the worst movie in the world, but you can give it a miss despite Huston directing and Newman starring. This didn't do very well at the box office when it first came out, and it's easy to see why.

British society is under assault according to the opening scene which has James Mason as a Conservative MP addressing Parliament about social decay. Of course when it comes down to it, he's about as corrupt as they come, a fact suspected by the British police, who orchestrate a plan to infiltrate a criminal gang by getting one of their own (Paul Newman) sent to prison. Hollywood talent of writer Walter Hill (great 70's and 80's director), John Huston and Paul Newman mingles with British sensibilities and a really nice soundtrack to create a whole that exceeds the parts. The story starts take off at about the middle of the film, out somewhere on the Irish moors with Newman having infiltrated the criminal gang who had sprung him out of prison. The viewer is lulled into thinking this is a lighter film than it actually turns out to be, which has some surprisingly tough parts, especially the ending.

John Huston directed this little-seen thriller that stars Paul Newman as Joseph Reardon, a member of British Intelligence sent on an undercover mission by his boss Mr. Mackintosh(played by Harry Andrews) in a prison where he is given a fictitious criminal background in order to infiltrate a criminal gang where the leaders are imprisoned. He assists in their eventual escape which leads from Ireland to Malta. His contact(played by Dominique Sanda) is a beautiful but aloof woman who has her own personal reasons for the assignment, which includes a Parliament member(played by James Mason) who isn't what he pretends to be... OK espionage thriller with good cast and direction, though the plot does seem overly complicated at times.

British agent Joseph Rearden (Paul Newman) meets his superior MacKintosh and Mrs Smith who direct him to steal diamonds from mysterious mail deliveries. He gets arrested after an anonymous tip and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He joins Slade, a KGB mole in British intelligence, in a prison escape. They are drugged and brought to a vast secret organization. Meanwhile, politician Sir George Wheeler (James Mason) rails against the government and MacKintosh informs him of infiltrating the escape organization. The first act is rather stale. John Huston directs the material in a standard manner. The trial is boring. It would have worked much better to start with Newman arriving in prison. His intelligence background should be revealed much later as a shocking twist. The pacing and plotting is rather slow and methodical. It is competently made and it has the great Paul Newman. It's well into the second half when they finally have a car chase. Otherwise, the drama is rather limited.