I first saw this as an HBO made for TV movie. It didn't make much of an impression at the time but I revisited it just to see who is in it. Kevin Spacey plays one of the few likable characters I've ever see him play. Even better, Spacey is workking again with Alan Arkin. Frank Langella is excellent in everything and this is no exception. Zia Mohyeddin, the great character actor has to say almost nothing to convey his Iraqi military officer as someone who is extremely dangerous. Tony Goldwyn plays the typical bureaucrat everyone loves to hate, Michael Kitchen. Francesca Annis, Aharon Ipalé, James Fox. This is a great cast!
What is missing with this movie is a point. All I get from it is how blind to reality Gerald Bull must have been. It tells a good espionage story. It tries to find controversy like who financed the Iraqi military and why but that's nothing anyone who knows history doesnt know. US sided with Iraq during their war with Iran seeing Iraq as the lesser of two evils. After that war ended, they turned into an enemy when the invasion of Kuwait occurred. Simple. What does this story have to do with that? Almost nothing. The only point I get is Bull wanting to make a gun that would never work, a gun he can't build because the parts will never be delivered ( a man known for building guns, sends a known associate of his to convince foreign countries that these giant metal pieces are not gun related??? Did they really do something that stupid?), inserts himself into the Middle East conflict with no protection and you can guess the result of that.
It is good seeing the actors though especially the scenes Spacey has with Arkin. Both actors play characters well outside their usual casting.
What is missing with this movie is a point. All I get from it is how blind to reality Gerald Bull must have been. It tells a good espionage story. It tries to find controversy like who financed the Iraqi military and why but that's nothing anyone who knows history doesnt know. US sided with Iraq during their war with Iran seeing Iraq as the lesser of two evils. After that war ended, they turned into an enemy when the invasion of Kuwait occurred. Simple. What does this story have to do with that? Almost nothing. The only point I get is Bull wanting to make a gun that would never work, a gun he can't build because the parts will never be delivered ( a man known for building guns, sends a known associate of his to convince foreign countries that these giant metal pieces are not gun related??? Did they really do something that stupid?), inserts himself into the Middle East conflict with no protection and you can guess the result of that.
It is good seeing the actors though especially the scenes Spacey has with Arkin. Both actors play characters well outside their usual casting.