![]() ![]() In this film, it feels like Tommy’s merely doing his duty to Tuppence and England. He’s having fun and showing off for the damsel. Yes, he tries to rein in Tuppence but he’s excited too. He resists the call to action that Tuppence leaps after - like a trout after a well-tied fly - yet I don’t recall him being so stodgy in the novel. Francesca as Tuppence does an admirable job. They’re young adventurers, footloose and fancy-free. This adaptation, with Francesca Annis as Tuppence and James Warwick as Tommy is exceedingly faithful yet it didn’t catch the spirit of the novel. I’ve sat through all three versions of The Secret Adversary and I have to say this: no filmmaker has yet to do justice to the novel. Despite being an espionage thriller involving the potential collapse of the British government, kidnapping, and terrorists, Tommy and Tuppence outings should be sparkling, frothy, light as air. But backtracking to figure out a complex bit of plot tosses one right out of the story and back onto the couch.įlat and lackluster when it should be racing along vroom, vroom, vroom. Or at least, it didn’t until the advent of tapes and now DVDs where the viewer can rewind and rewatch an unclear section. It’s also a medium that doesn’t let the viewer go back when something is unclear. Novels are often simplified for filming because film is such a different medium. ![]() ![]() Scene for scene, line for line, this movie is faithful to the point of being weighed down. This little wonder is the closest adaptation of the novel you’ll find anywhere. ![]()
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