Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) is an long-serving MI5 officer whose best friend, Benedict Baron (Michael Gambon) is also his boss and the current husband of Worricker's ex-wife. Baron dies of a heart attack and leaves behind a file that could bring down the British government. Johnny then meets his beautiful next door neighbor (Rachel Weisz) who turns out to be a political activist whose brother was killed by the Israelis while he was waving a white flag. The incident was covered up.
Johnny needs to get at the truth of who knew what when, which will mean the end of his career. But he soldiers on and finds himself having to negotiate with the devil.
Set in London and Cambridge, PAGE EIGHT looks at today's world, at issues of trust, morality, security, and a new kind of intelligence post-9/11.
An absolutely magnificent cast stars in this: besides Nighy, Gambon, and Weisz, there is Judy Davis, Ralph Fiennes as the Prime Minister, and Marthe Keller. Needless to say, the acting is brilliant, with one exception, in my opinion, and that's Bill Nighy. His performance to me seemed extremely one-note.
What was missing for me wasn't the shoot-ups, the fire bombs, or action -- what was missing for me was the drama. The direction seemed to me to be too careful, and coupled with a too-careful script where the drama never really rips, it made for an experience during which nothing happened.
Normally this is my type of thing. I'm sorry to say for me this missed the boat. And with a cast like this, trust me, it was very disappointing.
Johnny needs to get at the truth of who knew what when, which will mean the end of his career. But he soldiers on and finds himself having to negotiate with the devil.
Set in London and Cambridge, PAGE EIGHT looks at today's world, at issues of trust, morality, security, and a new kind of intelligence post-9/11.
An absolutely magnificent cast stars in this: besides Nighy, Gambon, and Weisz, there is Judy Davis, Ralph Fiennes as the Prime Minister, and Marthe Keller. Needless to say, the acting is brilliant, with one exception, in my opinion, and that's Bill Nighy. His performance to me seemed extremely one-note.
What was missing for me wasn't the shoot-ups, the fire bombs, or action -- what was missing for me was the drama. The direction seemed to me to be too careful, and coupled with a too-careful script where the drama never really rips, it made for an experience during which nothing happened.
Normally this is my type of thing. I'm sorry to say for me this missed the boat. And with a cast like this, trust me, it was very disappointing.