THE OFFENCE is an adaptation of a stage play 'This Story Of Yours',written by John Hopkins,about a senior police officer who eventually cracks under the strain of experiencing and witnessing horrific crimes and inhumanity over many years.
Everything about this film is deliberately glum,gloomy,miserable and harrowing,in it's story,production,location(the soulless new-town of Bracknell),music score and atmosphere.Not exactly the recipe for genial,easy-going entertainment,and these facts condemned it to box-office failure and obscurity,even though it had one of the world's best known film actors (Sean Connery) playing the lead and a more than useful supporting cast (Ian Bannen,Trevor Howard,Vivien Merchant).It would probably have worked better as a TV film and possibly may have received a much larger appreciative audience on the more intimate small screen.Indeed,there are many familiar UK TV actors on show here,such as Peter Bowles,Ronald Radd,Derek Newark and Richard Moore,which gives it the feel of a modest TV production rather than a big screen movie.
However,there is still much to admire about THE OFFENCE.Sidney Lumet occasionally struggles with the theatrical origins of the piece,and some of the scenes drag on a little tediously,but,like his best film TWELVE ANGRY MEN,he still manages to produce some striking images despite the claustrophobic settings abound.Aside from the opening scenes,Lumet sets the film at nighttime and in a brutally functional,modern police station in mostly dark lighting.Connery is as far from the character of James Bond as is possible to be in this film,and he gives one of his finest screen performances as the emotionally tortured and disturbed Sgt Johnson,not surrounded by a bevy a glamorous beauties,but married to a plain middle-aged wife with whom he is not scared to berate for her ordinary looks.Vivien Merchant is fine in this role,as is the ever excellent Trevor Howard as the Superintendent who tries to get to the heart of Connery's actions,but to no avail.Ian Bannen is outstanding as Baxter,the main suspect in the child rape case(though the evidence against Bannen is ambiguous and circumstantial),a thoroughly nasty individual who obviously enjoys his teasing and provocation of Connery,but ends up being savagely beaten and killed by the psychologically scarred police sergeant for his pains;he even turns the tables and starts interrogating Connery instead.Connery starts crying 'help me! to Bannen before the final assault;he should be given considerable praise for tackling such a difficult role and escaping the albatross round his neck at the time that was James Bond.But despite no hairpiece,weaponry and gadgetry at hand,at the time he was still finding it virtually impossible to escape the sophisticated spy image.Three decades later,it is now easier to accept Sir Sean in the guise of various other characters,and despite it's relentless grimness,THE OFFENCE should be recognised as one of his best screen performances,as was his role in a previous Lumet film,THE HILL.
RATING:6 and a Half out of 10.
Everything about this film is deliberately glum,gloomy,miserable and harrowing,in it's story,production,location(the soulless new-town of Bracknell),music score and atmosphere.Not exactly the recipe for genial,easy-going entertainment,and these facts condemned it to box-office failure and obscurity,even though it had one of the world's best known film actors (Sean Connery) playing the lead and a more than useful supporting cast (Ian Bannen,Trevor Howard,Vivien Merchant).It would probably have worked better as a TV film and possibly may have received a much larger appreciative audience on the more intimate small screen.Indeed,there are many familiar UK TV actors on show here,such as Peter Bowles,Ronald Radd,Derek Newark and Richard Moore,which gives it the feel of a modest TV production rather than a big screen movie.
However,there is still much to admire about THE OFFENCE.Sidney Lumet occasionally struggles with the theatrical origins of the piece,and some of the scenes drag on a little tediously,but,like his best film TWELVE ANGRY MEN,he still manages to produce some striking images despite the claustrophobic settings abound.Aside from the opening scenes,Lumet sets the film at nighttime and in a brutally functional,modern police station in mostly dark lighting.Connery is as far from the character of James Bond as is possible to be in this film,and he gives one of his finest screen performances as the emotionally tortured and disturbed Sgt Johnson,not surrounded by a bevy a glamorous beauties,but married to a plain middle-aged wife with whom he is not scared to berate for her ordinary looks.Vivien Merchant is fine in this role,as is the ever excellent Trevor Howard as the Superintendent who tries to get to the heart of Connery's actions,but to no avail.Ian Bannen is outstanding as Baxter,the main suspect in the child rape case(though the evidence against Bannen is ambiguous and circumstantial),a thoroughly nasty individual who obviously enjoys his teasing and provocation of Connery,but ends up being savagely beaten and killed by the psychologically scarred police sergeant for his pains;he even turns the tables and starts interrogating Connery instead.Connery starts crying 'help me! to Bannen before the final assault;he should be given considerable praise for tackling such a difficult role and escaping the albatross round his neck at the time that was James Bond.But despite no hairpiece,weaponry and gadgetry at hand,at the time he was still finding it virtually impossible to escape the sophisticated spy image.Three decades later,it is now easier to accept Sir Sean in the guise of various other characters,and despite it's relentless grimness,THE OFFENCE should be recognised as one of his best screen performances,as was his role in a previous Lumet film,THE HILL.
RATING:6 and a Half out of 10.