Edit
Storyline
Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) is a long-serving MI5 officer. His boss and best friend Benedict Baron (Michael Gambon) dies suddenly, leaving behind him an inexplicable file, threatening the stability of the organization. Meanwhile, a seemingly chance encounter with Johnny's striking next-door neighbor and political activist Nancy Pierpan (Rachel Weisz) seems too good to be true. Johnny is forced to walk out of his job, and then out of his identity to find out the truth. Set in London and Cambridge, PAGE EIGHT is a contemporary spy film for the BBC, which addresses intelligence issues and moral dilemmas peculiar to the new century. Written by
David Hare
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
Edit
Did You Know?
Trivia
Tom Hughes (Ralph Wilson), Felicity Jones (Julianne Worricker) and Ralph Fiennes (Alec Beasly) all worked together in 'Cemetery Junction'.
See more »
Goofs
As Johnny Worricker is driving through Westminster at night he is listening to the Shipping Forecast which is broadcast at 00:48 and 05:20. The time on the Clock Tower (Big Ben) shows 01:53.
See more »
Quotes
Johnny Worricker:
I had a feeling that if I asked a favour you were a sort of person who'd come through.
Nancy Pierpan:
You trust me. Why on earth would you trust me?
Johnny Worricker:
Because that's the job. Deciding who to trust. That's what the job is.
Johnny Worricker:
Also, you told your father that I work for the Home Office.
Nancy Pierpan:
I lied.
Johnny Worricker:
Yeah.
Nancy Pierpan:
You trust me because I lied.
See more »
Soundtracks
Fine and Mellow
written by
Billie Holiday
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp
Performance of
Billie Holiday used with permission as presented
See more »
I'll assume you've read the plot summary, so I won't labour on explaining that. In a nutshell, Bill Nighy is playing an MI5 agent who's responsibility it is to uncover the deceit allegedly led by the British Prime Minister (Ralph Fiennes).
It opens with the quirky, upbeat jazz music and feels a bit 'Alfie-ish' as Nighy struts down the streets of London to his flat, and then we finally settle down into the story. The story is, and I hate to say it, a little thin around the edges and could do with a little more 'oomph' to get it those final couple of stars. If your expecting to see Nighy as the ass-kicking, hard-nut veteran version of James Bond then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. This is about plot and character, not flamboyant action sequences. Speaking of character, there is plenty of that in this film; from Nighy himself to Ralph Fiennes and Michael Gambon- there are stars a plenty to keep the film alive, the acting is brilliantly good and there's a scene between Nighy and Fiennes which I particularly enjoyed, just simple dialogue between two great actors.
Yes it does feel a bit BBCish, but at the end of the day it is a BBC film so I can't really complain! So if you have an hour and 40 minutes to fill, I strongly recommend this film- it's mysterious (yet it probably could have been more so), fun (there are a handful of good laugh-provoking lines thrown in there), engaging and an all-round enjoyable watch. Enjoy.