One of my all time favorites.

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

"The Offence" is a gripping psychological drama starring Sean Connery, who plays Detective Sergeant Johnson. Johnson gets into a lot of hot water when he goes overboard and beats the almighty hell out of a suspect, Kenneth Baxter (Ian Bannen). Baxter seems a likely candidate to be the monster responsible for a series of assaults on children. The film begins with the immediate aftermath of the beating, then details the events leading up to it. An interrogator, Cartwright (Trevor Howard), is called in to grill Connery and get him to explain himself.Written by John Hopkins, based on his play, this film does betray a certain staginess. It's also going to be too deliberately paced for some tastes. And, in the end, it wasn't hard for this viewer to guess where the story was going. But even taking those things into account, there's a palpable level of tension in "The Offence" right from the start. It also has a striking look, because, with few exceptions, director Sidney Lumet and cinematographer Gerry Fisher avoid strong primary colours.Where Lumet succeeds the most is in getting some exceptional performances out of his actors. In exchange for agreeing to reprise the role of James Bond (for "Diamonds are Forever"), Connery had insisted that he get to do two smaller budgeted projects of his own choosing. "The Offence" was one, and an adaptation of "Macbeth" was the other; however, the latter project never came to fruition because "The Offence" didn't fare too well at the box office, and Roman Polanski beat Connery to the punch with his own version of "Macbeth".Connery, who'd also shined for Lumet in "The Anderson Tapes", is mesmerizing here. He's matched by the equally powerful Howard, and the pathetic (yet also perceptive) Bannen. Praise also goes to Vivien Merchant, in the role of Johnsons' wife. Connery has scenes with all three where you can just get lost in the performances.Overall, an intense study of a forceful, angry character.Seven out of 10.

The Offence is based on a play, and it shows. Very few locations- interrogation room, police quarters, a few outdoor scenes, Johnson's home- are punctuated by a whole lot of men (and one woman in a scene) talking in rooms. This doesn't dissuade a director like Sidney Lumet, however, who feeds the fire that actors crave, which is freedom to take some risky material anywhere it needs to go. In this case it's about a detective who is on a child murder/raper case who in the midst of the manhunt finds in one night a girl who survived in the woods, and a suspect who is picked up as a vagrant in the middle of the night. He gets somehow alone in an interrogation room with the man (Ian Bannen) and, in what seems like no time at all, the man is dead and Johnson (Connery) is half-shocked and half-not-surprised at himself for what he's done.The rest of the film is introspective self-inquiry, and a closer with a double-back (perhaps influenced a little by Rashomon though not entirely) on what really happened in that interrogation room. While Lumet implements some "subliminal" cuts into some scenes to show in Johnson's mind how the "pictures" he sees his head, the thoughts and memories of crimes and victims and blood and bodies over a twenty year career as a cop, they don't really act as being effective for much longer past the first scene (a bring white ring on the screen kind of wears itself out after the eerie opening scene too). It's a shame since Lumet previously used the technique in The Pawnbroker and this time just didn't connect with it. It is, sad to say, dated and not totally necessary to get inside of Connery's headspace (not that the image of the woman dead and tied up to the bed won't stick with me for a while either, I should admit).But it's all in Connery's expressions, his voice trembling and devastated by what he's done, while also in the knowledge that there was no other way he could get around it. What's revealing about Johnson through the course of the film, and how Connery phenomenally plays it, is not how monstrous he is but how recognizable he is. He's a mad policeman, sure, but how he got that way is what counts. He was 'normal' once, or just a decent cop, and somehow after years of exposure he couldn't put it aside or live two lives as Trevor Howard's character suggests. Instead he internalized it, and it all boiled up to a head with his interrogation of Baxter. When Lumet finally gets to this very long scene, which closes out the film, its so epic it may make one reevaluate the interrogation scene of Batman versus the Joker in the Dark Knight. It's one of those actor set-pieces that scorches the floor dramatically. Sadly, the rest of the film doesn't quite hold up to the same intensity (though Connery does).

Devastating performance from Sean Connery in this criminally under-appreciated tour-de-force. A wet gray chilly England is the setting. Connery's cop has seen too much in his 20 yrs on the force. A series of sex attacks on children is just the latest in a long line of horrors to be dealt with on a daily basis. How can a man see such things and still stay sane? This is without a doubt Sean Connery's finest screen performance.Sidney Lumet conducts the whole affair with his usual precision and expertise. The whole cast is excellent in their respective roles. But this is really Connery's film. He should have won an Oscar for this. Viewing The Offense is not a pleasant experience. But it is as powerful as a keg of nitroglycerin. Once seen, not a film to be forgotten easily.

Based on a stage play by John Hopkins and directed by Sidney Lumet, The Offence is a dark and dismal tale of police brutality. I am not at all surprised to learn that this film did not do well at the box office upon its release in the summer of 1972; and the reason for that is simply that it is not a film for everyone. The uncompromisingly bleak tone as well as the unpleasant subject matter will be too much for some, but if you can get past that; what we have here is a very intense and interesting character study, as well as a film that sees the great Sean Connery give one of the best performances of his impressive career. The plot focuses on a series of brutal attacks on young girls. Experienced Detective Johnson has brought in a suspect whom he believes may be the one who carried out the attacks and begins to interview him. During the interview, Johnson comes to believe more and more that the man he is speaking to is the man behind the attacks and after discussing with him, the detective finally loses his rag and takes it out on the suspect.Sidney Lumet is a great director who often doesn't get the respect he deserves. The director has had hits with films such as Dog Day Afternoon and 12 Angry Men; but films such as this one and Equus often don't get the respect they deserve and that's a shame. While this film is not perfect and parts of it are more interesting than others; the director ensures that the tension is bubbling all the time and every exchange between the central character and whoever he is talking to (e.g. the suspect, his wife, his boss) is very intense and we are often allowed to get inside the character's head. This is also thanks to the great Sean Connery who is absolute powerhouse in the lead role and constantly impresses throughout the film. The story asks a lot of questions and doesn't give out all the answers; which serves in making the film more interesting as the viewer is forced to come to their own conclusions. The final half hour of the film is truly brilliant and this part alone justifies the entire story. The Offence may not have the best reputation; but it's a film well worth seeing and I highly recommend it.