I don't know what it is about this film that I like so much. Is it the idea of Robert Redford as the everyman, in over his head? Is it the beautiful Faye Dunaway, who is sexy and formidable? Is it Max Von Sydow from all those Bergman films holding forth on how the world is controlled by a small group of people? Then there is the constant pursuit where wits are needed or it's the end. So a previous reviewer talked about Hitchcock. This is a fast pace Hitchcock film. Like Cary Grant and Robert Donat, Robert Redford is only able to survive the overwhelming odds by getting a confederate, a woman, to help him. Redford is continually amazed at how he has left one frying pan to leap into the fire. And in the end, we are given one of those very unsettling statements that floor us. Watch this really cool film to see where all this goes.

This thriller from 1975 has maintained its freshness; sure the technology is old fashioned but the story is still gripping without relying on non-stop action, explosions and shaky camera work one would expect today. Robert Redford plays a CIA employee who returns from lunch to find his entire section has been killed; why is a mystery, they aren't investigating anything serious; they just analyse books. Realising he is in danger he leaves the scene and phones his superior from a phone box; he is given instructions about how to come in safely but when he follows them he is ambushed. He manages to escape but now he realises that he can't trust anybody inside the CIA. He makes his escape by kidnapping a woman and eventually persuading her that he is actually one of the good guys and that he needs her help. In order to survive he must find out just what it was that his section discovered that was so serious that people would kill to keep secret.

It was refreshing to watch a thriller that didn't rely on constant action; in fact the tensest scenes often involved just two people talking where there was a feeling that something could happen at any moment. Robert Redford did a good job as man on the run Joseph Turner and Max von Sydow was particularly menacing as the soft spoken assassin. Director Sydney Pollack kept things tense throughout without things getting melodramatic. I liked how the viewer is kept unsure about who if anybody within the CIA can be trusted without making everybody out to be monsters… and when we do learn the motive it feels just as topical as it was back in the seventies.

Robert Redford is just right as Joe Turner, a "reader" for a government intelligence office whose job is to pore over books and articles, and report any information to his superiors that could be seen as relevant. While out one day, getting lunch for his co-workers, he escapes a violent fate, because the rest of them are being assassinated. He must take it on the lam, trying to figure out if he can trust ANYBODY (his employers make being shady their stock in trade). He improvises by abducting an innocent young photographer, Kathy Hale (Faye Dunaway), and forcing her to help him. She's scared, but does start sympathizing with him and willingly becoming a part of his schemes.

Adapting the novel "Six Days of the Condor" by James Grady, screenwriters Lorenzo Semple, Jr. & David Rayfiel and director Sydney Pollack make this an intriguing and involved tale of paranoia and suspicion. It hinges on intelligent dialogue and situations, rather than revolving around action set pieces. We're not ten steps ahead of our protagonist, and discover layers to the story along with him. We are also able to share in his desperation and paranoia, given the relaxed pace of the film, and feel relief when he escapes a few life-and-death situations. The relationship between Joe Turner and Kathy Hale also adds a level of humanity as he comes to truly appreciate everything that she does for him, and she respects his sincerity and honesty.

Joe Turner is one of those "average Joe" type lead characters that are easier to relate to than, say, a Schwarzenegger or Stallone type superhero. We do admire him for his smarts and survival instincts, but find him believable as well because it's clear that he's in over his head. Redfords' performance is throughly credible, and even when the character is given to some righteous indignation, he doesn't make this quality as abrasive as it might have been, coming from a lesser actor. Dunaway is equally as impressive, with Cliff Robertson scoring as a smug, self-confident CIA bigwig. John Houseman is typically solid in a special guest appearance as one of Robertsons' peers. But Max von Sydow is the true MVP of the production, offering charisma and screen presence as the assassin / mercenary who never worries about the reasons why someone might want a "job" done. The confrontations and scenes between Redford & Robertson, and Redford & von Sydow, are among the best in the picture.

Commendably, the filmmakers keep you hanging until the end, and uncertain as to whether Joes' problems will be solved. One thing's for sure: you know this guy will have to be looking over his shoulder a lot from now on.

Eight out of 10.