Nobody Runs Forever

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Francine B Good script, good pace, engaging, good elegant fun with a serious twist Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Rod Taylor is one Aussie cop you don't mess with in this fisticuffs filled political thriller. When he comes to find Christopher Plummer, who is wanted back home for the murder of his first wife, he stumbles into an unexpected situation. Murder, plots within plots, spies, and glass after glass of Fosters is all it takes to get Taylor's fists flying. In spite of having seen Taylor in several films, this is the first time I think I've heard him really let loose with the accent, too, which was fun. Check this one out. It's unexpectedly fun. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member A great Sunday afternoon film Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Due to some flaws in the plot and some mediocre action scenes and put-on stereotyping, “The High Commissioner” (aka “Nobody Runs Forever”) is tolerable, but not very good. First of all we can doubt the classification of “spy movie” (which it is sometimes thought to be). There are no spies in it – just a police inspector and some important person involved with political issues and decisions. The agreeable sides of the movie are connected to this person’s position and activities. The international conference which is central to the story brings about an atmosphere of cultural globalness, with many guests from all over the world, bringing along their own particular habits, behaviours, appearances and manners of speaking. Cultural differences (read: clashes) are an important aspect of the film anyway. Also within the boundaries of the Western world culture as it appears in this movie, we see telling contrasts between people, often based on social class and/or accent. The best example is of course Scobie Malone (Rod Taylor), whose Australian accent and behaviour mean trouble from the start. His Aussie bull-in-china-shop act is funny, but unfortunately also exaggerated. The same thing can be said of some other characters that represent a certain culture or social class. Then the plot: the initial assignment (=the reason why Malone is sent to England) is doubtful to start with. Why did they pick a character like Malone for it (to keep the whole operation low-profile, possibly), and why is Sir James Quentin (Christopher Plummer) so obliging? He is to be taken back to Australia on (possibly) criminal charges – why would he welcome Malone anyway? It would have been better to send in the heavies (=more senior policemen with a warrant for his arrest rather than this hush-hush kid-glove approach) and force the High Commissioner into cooperation. But well, we needed a reason to keep Malone in London for a few days, and this was a way of doing it. Confined to Old Blighty for a while, Malone stumbles upon a new assignment: to protect Quentin from getting killed and tapped for vital information during the conference days. The solution of these mysteries appears to lead to one and the same source (who apparently wants to ruin Quentin by destroying his conference AND his person – seems a bit double to me), whose private motivations remain unclear. The only person knowing/guessing who is behind all this seems to be the annoyingly overdramatizing wife of Quentin (Lilly Palmer – who looks old enough to be his mother, by the way), who never opened her mouth during earlier murder attempts on her husband, and who is unnaturally calm for such an emotionally unstable person once she’s figured out the trick with the clock. All very questionable. Add to this the action scenes that could have been more convincing and we end up with a movie with a dynamic (though flaw-ridden) plot, set in picturesque London of the sixties, which is OK to watch, but not tremendously good. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member A solid, entertaining film, almost entirely forgotten now it seems. Fans of both Taylor and Plummer should put it on their lists of movies to see. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Nobody Runs Forever

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