It is difficult to accept that UK authorities and police will allow foreigners or terrorists to do what we can see in the film, i.e. a Latin American president escaping from a coup d'etat and being kidnaped in London by secret police of his country. It is non sense either to see the president moving free everywhere in London or in UK. The idea of the plot was perhaps to denounce as many coups d'etat Latin America has suffered and related problems of democracy there, but the arguments are too weak for the film to be qualified, at least, as an acceptable one.
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mark.waltz23 July 2021Probably the youngest South American president in history, whether real history or film history, the striking Andy Garcia is eye candy for sure. Hot after "The Untouchables", he's quite different here. He's calm, eloquent, always polite yet somehow a mystery to the audience and the other characters in the film. Ousted in a coup, Garcia is in London trying to gain support for his return to office (having been elected in a democratic election) and with the help of assistant Kitty Aldridge is desperately trying to stay alive and find out what world criminal organization is trying to get rid of him. The various agents he meets are in denial over attempting an assassination, but someone is lying.
All eyes are on Garcia because all the world likes a glamorous, handsome leader, especially someone so desirable yet so hard to reach. Garcia is a good actor, but the details of who his character is remain as secret as the group out to prevent his successful return. When Garcia recites poetry at a recital, he reaches out to a surprising number of royalties, and the gentility of his demeanor is hard to resist. But gentility doesn't guarantee great leadership, and he comes off more like a dashing metrosexual artist than someone who could successfully maintain peace in a corrupt country where organized crime and other assorted elements seem to be the ones in charge.
So while there is a lot of tension and great use of the London location setting, there's a bit of perplexing underdeveloped political drama, and that is frustrating considering the potential of what could have been. Garcia gives a few convincing interviews that indicates his integrity, but he rarely gets the opportunity to do much other than smile, be dignified and plead for aide in ending the corruption that has taken him out of power. Yet you always feel how vulnerable he is walking around London like he was just some every day ordinary businessman. The camera loves him though, so you can't help but root for him. It's just a shame that the script didn't develop his character with a few flaws, and the lack of a really strong plot makes this a weak political thriller. Even when Garcia explains his machismo ego, it doesn't quite ring true, and brief moments of anger from him don't null or void what had come before. -
uds331 October 2001Actually a collaboration between Australia and the U.S. this was originally conceived as a telemovie, but received theatrical release instead.
Garcia is reliably good as always as Carlos Quintas, the deposed South American President currently in London looking for someone to support his cause. (No-one has causes like the South Americans!) His mind is only half on his job...the other half on his assistant Kate (played by Kitty Aldridge). On the periphery are a handful of questionably loyal individuals who could be either CIA, KGB, or rejects from a Bond movie!
The plot doesn't matter, the film doesn't matter, but its all in good fun and eminently watchable. Brit actress Susannah York appears as herself. David Freeman and Buck Henry served as back-up script consultants for AMERICAN ROULETTE.