When I see Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, and Ralph Fiennes in a cast, I know I have to check it out. I was not sorry I did. The three were together in at least one other great film - The Constant Gardener. Individually, there is seldom a really good film that doesn't have one of the three.
Of course the Golden Globes and BAFTA agree with me as they both gave the film a nomination.
The Prime Minster (Fiennes) seems to be up to his neck in deception. The meeting between Nighy and he was fascinating.
Page Eight was a positive surprise with good dialogue and an engaging story.
Page Eight
2011
Action / Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Page Eight
2011
Action / Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Plot summary
Johnny is a long-serving MI5 officer. His boss dies suddenly, leaving behind an inexplicable file which threatens the stability of the organisation.
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October 27, 2018 at 04:07 AM
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When you don't know the truth everything freezes and you can't move on.
454th Review: An intelligent and competent political thriller
Bill Nighy really could be turning into this generation's David Niven - with a more world-weary edge, mind you, but he has an immense charm without any swarm, and puts it to excellent use in Page Eight. He plays a civil servant and security analyst coming to the end of his career in the upper echelons of Whitehall who discovers that politics and war are not honourable affairs.
With an outstanding cast and an intelligent plot this remains a thriller - but one without the usual resort to unlikely battles and chases - it is very British, both in its tone and in its look - and what we get is a very nice thriller indeed.
If you like 60s cold war spies movies, and want a break from the Bourne type, then this will fit the bill very nicely. Intelligent, beautifully paced and acted, and all in all a nice break from action films to something more purposeful and, really, a satisfying watch.
in many ways the PERFECT modern spy thriller
This review written in 2016. The Bond franchise is still in play, barely, and upstart franchises like FF7 are slowly but surely taking over the traditional spy "caper." And then there is Page 8. Wow. Assuming, as a moviephile, you don't swoon merely on hearing the cast (Felicity Jones and Michael Gambon in supporting roles!) the story, the pacing, the direction, the dialog, the cinematography, the acting --- these are all a treat to be savoured.
This is of course the other side of the spy game, with a hero who boasts that he doesn't "do violence" and who when asked by an associate that he no longer trusts, why he picked a certain restaurant for the rendez-vous, proudly answers, "For the best reason of all, the food." Nighy in one of the best roles of his career also talks about life not being worth living without honour. Not many actors could make that line ring true. He does.
Astonishing, under-rated and to a large degree unappreciated.
And massively recommended.