Undescribable Perfection

Such a frustrating disappointment

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Disgraced former CIA operative Stephen Guerin (an excellent and convincing performance by William Peterson) lives in exile on the lush tropical island of Curacao. Guerin finds himself mixed up in a deadly insurance scam involving fellow expatriate and lone best friend Cornelius Wettering (robustly played by George C. Scott).While the basic story sounds intriguing and the picturesque island scenery sure looks nice, this film alas never cooks the way that it ought to because of pedestrian direction by Carl Schultz, an often plodding pace, James D. Buchanan's overly convoluted script, a crippling dearth of tension, and a narrative that gets bogged down in too much rather tedious talk without nearly enough exciting action to offset it. Fortunately, the good cast keeps this movie watchable: Julie Carmen as Guerin's hard-nosed old flame Julia, Alexei Sayle as the shifty Seamuller, Maria Elligsen as the spunky Diana, Dennis Lipscomb as stuffy superior Henry Rawlings, Philip Anglim as pesky detective Van Vlaanderen, and George Cheung as the slippery Worthy Hsung. Trish Van Devere is wasted in a minor nothing role as a secretary. Ellery Ryan's slick cinematography and the spare moody score by Colin Towns are both up to speed. A decent diversion.

I liked this movie. It wasn't an Oscar winner, but it was interesting. I was surprised that it wasn't predictable. William Petersen plays an exiled CIA agent called Steven Guerin. Geurin is exiled to the American Consulate in Curacao. He is constantly being watched by his own people due to his discontent. He is also being sought out by the enemy to become a double agent. Guerin gets entangled in a web of intrigue when his friend Cornelius(George C. Scott) gets him involved in an insurance scam. Cornelius has a record of his own involvement in the sinking of a cargo ship and the deaths of his crew for money in an act of insurance fraud. Cornelius leaves the evidence in Guerin's lap. Guerin is then caught between mobsters from South Africa and China. Petersen is wonderful as Guerin. The viewer can "taste" the character's discontent. I can't see any trace of what would become CSI's Gil Grissom. I have seen several of his early works and usually rent the movie before buying it if I liked it.. I would recommend all of them, especially "Gunshy". George C. Scott is wonderful as Cornelius. This is a role I wouldn't have expected him in. He is wonderful. Just enough to make the viewer pity him and just enough for the audience to loath him.This movie is a keeper and I have already purchased it.

It is is very sad to see someone of the calibre of George C Scott in a low budget thriller which would have been better if the original novel was written by Graham Greene and directed by someone somewhat more experienced in the genre. NOT TO MENTION A BETTER CINEMATOGRAPHER. There are so many missed opportunities with the scenery and carnival merely glossed over, rather than captured to locate the movie solidly in the exotic setting of the novel.Elsewhere in the viewer comments on this site, one very astute observer complained about the variety of diabolically bad accents in this film. Ever since I saw George C Scott as Rochester in Jane Eyre, I have prayed for him NEVER to ever accept again a role which required him to assume a British accent. Just every now and then, he could just possibly pass for British or a very British sounding South African played obviously by an American actor. I can stomach Meryl Streep's extraordinarily laboured accents (both British and Australian) - at least she gets it right even though with every utterance, she demands that we marvel at her skill. Well, I am sorry that Mr. Scott is no Meryl Streep, and it just destroys the illusion - like having Michele Yeoh speak excruciating Mandarin with a strong Singaporean accent in Crouching Tiger etc.Peterson acts no differently than what we see on CSI. Except he is still very handsome and more or less slim in this movie. He is the Harrison Ford of TV. Same old expressions for every emotion, every situation. No on second thought, Ford has two - perplexed/pained and happy. I have never seen a smile on Mr. CSI!

What is wrong with CURACAO ( Also known as DEADLY CURRENTS though what the reasonn for the name change is I have no idea ) can probably be summed up where a woman says to her lover :" Keep it down baby , I'm trying to sleep " It's not the dialogue that's the problem or the way it's delivered , it's the fact the actress has has a Central European accent . Nothing wrong with that until it's revealed her character is from Philidelphia in the United States ! This what struck me about this thriller while watching it - The way accents don't match their characters . Apart from the Philly woman with a German accent we see a South African with an English accent , a local police chief who sounds like he's an Irishman impersonating a Gestapo officer and worst of all George C Scott playing someone who's either Dutch or British with an accent that sounds like it might be American tinged with South African . You soon give up following what's on screen and end up concentrating on what nationality a character might be due to the strange way they speak . It's interesting to note that this site hasn't given this movie a country of origin . With so many different actors from different countries you do feel that this was produced by the United Nations Even if you're not curious about accents or dialects you'll probably have to give up following the action anyway because CURACAO is plot less . Things happen like a boat exploding , and a hostage situation and the hero being recruited as an agent for South African intelligence but you're left scratching your head wondering what the heck this is all leading to . I was lost