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Paul Rhys (from Food of Love 2002) has not starred in a major film role until now, and his character fails in every single possible way, especially from the perspective of his ex-wife Camilla (Claire Skinner). These days, his career has greatly diminished from a former Intelligence Department golden boy, living off the influence of his in-laws. His job is now reduced to office survival, slacker nonsense with heapings of gruntwork tacked on. In the meantime, his ex-wife and his impertinent son Hector (Freddy Downham) live in posh luxury while Archie resorts to drinking in his miserable apartment, uninterested in doing anything besides drudging through a Rolodex of Russian-English translations for minimum wage.
When some elderly former spies (Philip Manikum, Nicholas Day) for the government attempt to wipe out a few of Archie’s co-workers over some missing Cold War audiotapes that could seriously screw over the government, Archie is off napping on the job (in an audio transcription booth). With the rest of his colleagues being slain, these two gentlemen have come to the conclusion that Archie now has the incriminating tapes, meaning that he too must get wiped off the map. Veteran Ennis (Paul Miller) gets enlisted to take care of him. Since Ennis and Archie were colleagues in better days, he offers Archie a day to turn over the tapes or risk losing his life.
In reality, things never really go as planned. Once the film Eliminate steps into a more direct realm of espionage, its budget constraints along with creative constraints are far too obvious. The Spy Who Came in From The Cold starts out as a dull satire but transforms into something much less comical with no clever, suspenseful twists to maintain the ante. In particular, the film takes way too much care with the protagonist’s relationships with Camilla and his new squeeze Lucy, a slightly ditzy bombshell of suspect loyalties. The finale teeters on the edge of tragedy, but the lightweight film cannot carry it.
Watching Rhys is always entertaining, but the show can be described as pretty well stolen by Miller, the American accent ripped off mask-wearing friendly foe who is also a very funny mix of homely in a deep-dyed cynicism with a lift of fair-to-good material.
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