Power Play

A tale that is told on The Dick Cavett Show, the war and what followed in terms of a coup d’état with a joker in the deck.

The status of the participants is ascertained with citations and evocations, a sense of The Chequers Manoeuvre (BBC, dir. Christopher Barry), the panicked general in D-Day the Sixth of June (dir. Henry Koster), a scene from Seven Days in May (dir. John Frankenheimer), the Battle of Burpelson (Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove), a steady theme from Antonioni’s Blowup by way of Coppola’s The Conversation, with David Hemmings.

Time Out, “tedious, glib and reactionary.”

TV Guide, “confusing action tale”.

Sandra Brennan (Rovi), “suspenseful war drama.”

Halliwell’s Film Guide, “uninteresting mixture of violent action and verbosity.”

Ousama Rawi cinematography, Ken Thorne score.