Midnight in Saint Petersburg (1996)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Douglas Jackson

Writers:

Len Deighton (characters)
Harry Alan Towers (writer)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

No One Can Be Trusted. Nothing Is As It Seems. One Wrong Move Could Cost Everything.

Plot:

Former British secret agent Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) now runs a Private Investigation company in Russia...

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Based On Novel | Independent Film

Cast

Michael Caine	...	Harry Palmer
Jason Connery	...	Nikolai Petrov
Yuri Limonty	...	Circus Clown
Tanya Jackson	...	Tatiana
Michael Scherer	...	Mafiosa
Michelle Burke	...	Brandy (as Michelle Rene Thomas)
Gabriel Vorobyov	...	Driver
Michael Sarrazin	...	Craig
Lev Prygunov	...	Colonel Gradsky
Olga Anokhina	...	Greta
Yuri Petrov	...	General Kornikov (as Yuro Petrov)
Anatoli Davydov	...	Yuri
Serge Houde	...	Dr. Vestry
Ingolf Gorges	...	Club Manager
Yevgeni Zharikov	...	Feodor (as Yevgeni Ilycy Zharikov)

Also Known As:

Midnight in Saint Petersburg (USA) (alternative spelling)
Minuit à Saint-Petersbourg (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK | Russia | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:15 (video premiere) | USA:R | Spain:7

Filming Locations:

Russia

Company:

Lenfilm Studio

Trivia:

This film was shot back-to back with Bullet to Beijing (1995)

Movie Connections:

Follows The Ipcress File (1965)

Wooden performances and a dreadful script

Other reviews speak well of Caine's performance but I found him well below par. To be fair he has a dreadful script, an improbable storyline and no other star to live up to, but he looks just old, tired, (which he probably felt at the time), and miscast and it shows. The Harry Palmer of The Ipcress File fame is no more. Bullet to Beijing is better, quite a bit better, but that is also well below Caine's best. Connery is a nice looking young man, like his dad was, but his acting skills are modest. The stars of this film are the Russians! They give it a touch of authenticity and some can act.

It is not hard to see why Disney dumped both these films. Harry Palmer done in by Bond was the phrase I read at the time. However on a final and slightly positive note: both films make grade B, require little thought and even less imagination. If you have nothing better to do then have a look to see how far the mighty can fall. You will sleep well after wards if you are not asleep before the end!