THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR

Whether or not I saw this 1970s conspiracy thriller back in the day I've always had the impression that it is a bit lightweight compared with the classics of the genre, but I was interested to see if this was indeed the case.

The film starts off promisingly, as we are introduced to Robert Redford's character Joe, working in the offices of the 'American Literary Historical Society' which we readily surmise is a cover for some government intelligence operation.  Joe is a researcher who has just filed a report to HQ about a book that has some puzzling attributes,  and we can guess that this will have significance later on plot-wise. 

Suspense is established from the outset due to a somewhat sinister character watching from the outside street, checking which employees have arrived.  When Joe pops out the building using an unseen rear entrance to pick up lunch we are not surprised when intruders choose that moment to enter the building, proceeding to kill all those inside, in an effective set piece. 

The attack is led by the sinister guy (played by Max Von Sydow), who we later learn goes by the name of Joubert, and who is one of those super-efficient assassins-for-hire who tend to appear in this sort of film.

Joe returns to find all his colleagues dead, sending him into something of a panic, but given that he works for the CIA (his codename being Condor) all he has to do is to ring HQ and they will send someone to bring him in safely.  Except that the guy they send tries unsuccessfully to kill him, so that Joe is now on his own in New York unable to trust anyone. 

All well and good.

But then the film gets into really problematic territory with the introduction of Faye Dunaway's character, Kathy, with whom Joe takes refuge, against her will.

I can believe that she will eventually come round to believing his version of events, especially next morning when he sees off an attack from an intruder sent to kill him. 

What I do not believe is that she would go to bed with him given that he has forced himself into her home at gunpoint, and then tied her up whilst he pops out for a couple of hours. Especially since Kathy already has a boyfriend.

But hey, this is the 1970s, when two physically attractive people can't meet without very quickly jumping into bed.

Redford and Dunaway do their best to make all this believable but for me it does seriously damage the film's credibility, especially since their relationship doesn't go anywhere interesting. 

Thankfully Joubert is still around to add some threat, even if it is unclear at any given moment who he is working for.

However I wasn't that happy about his final scene with Joe where they seem like best buddies, even though only a couple of days earlier Joubert personally oversaw the murder of Joe’s colleagues, including a woman who he appeared to be romantically involved with.

And then we come to the ending, which is anticlimactic to say the least. It is no help that the conspiracy when it is revealed is not very interesting or plausible. 

It turns out that Joe had unwittingly discovered said conspiracy.  But since he had already filed a report, killing him seems a bit like closing the proverbial stable door.  Indeed you might think that killing him and his colleagues in such a spectacular way might have the perverse effect of drawing attention to his report.  So it's doubtful whether the plot holds up to close scrutiny.

Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoyed this film, despite my reservations.  But ultimately it doesn't deliver, and yes, it is lightweight.

RATING: x Find Something Better To Do