John Chard

Spy Vs Spy. The Mackintosh Man is directed by John Huston and adapted to screenplay by Walter Hill and William Fairchild from The Freedom Trap written by Desmond Bagley. It stars Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda, Ian Bannen, James Mason, Michael Horden and Harry Andrews. Music is by Maurice Jarre and cinematography by Oswald Morris. Spy shenanigans unbound as Newman plays Joseph Rearden, a hired agent for the British Intelligence who pulls a job on the orders of The Mackintosh Man (Andrews), and finds himself sent to prison for 20 years. But this is all part of a greater plan… A well performed and serviceable drama, if a bit of a let down come the final third. The most fun and intrigue comes about once Rearden enters prison and the initial part of plotting once he is broken out, then it sort of loses its way, trying to make a simple story more intricate than it is. There’s good mystery viewing to be found in working out the means and motives of the major players, and there’s no shortage of action and sizzle either as Rearden is thrust into a world of espionage and counter espionage. There’s a ream of suspicious accents to ignore and Jarre’s musical score tries to reach the heights of Anton Karas’ work on The Third Man, but fails and just comes off as a cheap repetitive attempt at a homage. More caper movie than intellectual thriller, it’s never less than watchable and the cast are good value for your time. 7/10