Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

ThiefHott Too much of everything

NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Steineded How sad is this?

Leofwine_draca THE HOLCROFT COVENANT is lesser-known Robert Ludlum adaptation that sees Michael Caine playing the unsuspecting heir of a Nazi fortune who finds himself mired in conspiracy and murder. The film itself is rather episodic and has hardly any action and thus not much in the way of life, but the saving grace is the presence of director John Frankenheimer who directors with his customary skill and professionalism. He turns what could have been a farcical effort into something more than watchable, with enough twists to keep the viewer engaged with the on-screen proceedings. It's nice to see Caine playing a more ordinary hero than most while the supporting cast includes Anthony Andrews, who is very good playing against type, alongside Euro stalwarts like Mario Adorf and Michael Lonsdale. Cheesy and dated at times, and occasionally boring, THE HOLCROFT COVENANT is one to enjoy if you're in a more forgiving mood.

redx1708 The Holcroft covenant is from a time when Robert Ludlum still wrote very readable thrillers. And the book is actually one of his better efforts. The movie however is terrible. It's so full of clichés that some scenes are actually funny although I'm sure they weren't meant to be. For instance, at some point Caine sits in an almost empty church. In comes a woman with a scarf over her head and giant sunglasses, Places herself right behind him and in a whisper that can be heard miles away says "don't turn around". I almost fell off my seat laughing. They also shaved the plot Down to something thats neither here nor there, and the acting is simply awful with some of the corniest lines ever. "My sister, my lover, my spouse", and she goes "my Brother, my lover, my spouse". Really, are we supposed to take this seriously ? A complete Waste of time and Money. I'll give it one star for Caine crying at the end. So was I.

robert-temple-1 Michael Caine as a German-American? Gimme a break! This whole project is so desperately flawed that even Lilli Palmer cannot save it, though her performance as Caine's mother is the best in the film. You know something is wrong when you see the opening credits: there are just too many screenwriters, and even Edward Anhalt is in there. How many rewrites can a succession of people do to save a doomed script? Clearly not enough. This is an excellent yarn, taken from a Robert Ludlum book which must have been a gripping story. But what a mess they have made of it. John Frankenheimer was an excellent director who was what one could call 'uneven'. In other words, he did not always deliver an acceptable result, and here he fails. He tries and tries, but it is no use. Anthony Andrews gives a better than expected performance, manages to avoid being arch, and with his blonde appearance convinces us that he is a German with an Iron Cross for a heart. Victoria Tennant, such an under-valued actress, does a fine job. Michael Lonsdale is wholly convincing as a quietly dominant Swiss banker who never needs to raise his voice because money speaks for him. It all could have been so good, but when you decide to cast a London cockney as an American architect whose father was a Nazi general, well please ... Michael Caine has never been anything other than Michael Caine. You could call that being true to himself or you could call it lack of talent. Certainly when he is called upon in this film to cry, you know it is glycerine drops, and the idea of a barrow boy crying, come on. The trouble was that in the 1970s Michael Caine was the only 'bankable' British star, which certainly gave too much power to his agent, Dennis Sellinger. And I guess this carried over into the eighties. But by then he was a shadow of the chirpy cricket of the East End that rode the wave of the revolution in class consciousness right to the top. Talk about perfect timing, Caine became the icon of a social movement. But somebody forgot to tell him how to act. Later in life, Caine finally picked up the skills along the way, and dozens of movies were his RADA, so he ended up a good actor in the end. But this was 1985, when he was still hopeless at being anyone but the same Michael Caine we saw last time, and the time before, and the time before. And that is a bore. Yes, tis a pity.

ozthegreatat42330 All of the elements for a great thriller are there. An outstanding director, John Frankenheimer, An excellent source author, Robert Ludlum and a great leading man for thrillers, Michael Caine. What went wrong? The biggest problem I had with this film was the cinematography. The film was grainy and the sub-titles were very hard to read when the actors were speaking German. There were plenty of the usual Ludlum plot twists and misdirections, but somehow the feel of this film was not up to the usual standards of Frankenheimer or Caine. A lot of it is just too kinky for most people, but an accurate portrayal of Berlin during the cold war years. It would have faired better had it been released ten years earlier rather than later. It does deserve an E for effort.