November is Spy Month

In honor of the upcoming new Bond film, November's movie theme will be spy movies. Now, which ones to pick?

As a huge fan of things relating to the Cold War, I could choose from the multitude of serious films made on the subject. Excellent ones include Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Company, The Lives of Others (post Cold War, but applicable none-the-less). However, in the wake of the devastation done by Sandy surrounding us on Long Island (800,000 still without power, gas in short supply, homes destroyed, trees down everywhere, and absolutely horrific stories of loss of lives - I had to turn the news off because I found myself breaking down every time I thought about it), I think we should go for a lighter mood (for the first two, at least).

Three excellent choices come to mind: Gotcha, The Man Who Knew too Little, and Her Alibi.

Now, Gotcha is just pure brilliance. There's no part of that movie that I don't absolutely love. Anthony Edwards plays a college student who gets involved with a courier (Linda Fiorentino) and travels to East Berlin with her. Though the lead actors were fantastic, one of my favorite parts of the movie remains all of the peripheral characters. The Marine at Checkpoint Charlie, Jonathan's friend Manolo, the Mexican housekeeper Rosaria, Jonathan's parents, the waiter in the French Cafe, the East German police and best of all - in an outstanding portrayal of civil servants that seems to cross even the Iron Curtain - the CIA receptionist and the East German border agent who sells visas. If you've never seen it, give it a try, I think you'll enjoy it.

The Man Who Knew too Little: what can I say about this movie? Bill Murray plays Peter Gallagher's annoying brother. Gallagher lives in London and is hosting an important business meeting, so he buys one of those adventure packages for Murray to keep him busy. When Murray's 'adventure' collides with real life, he becomes mixed up in a web of intrigue and an assassination plot. Guaranteed to make you laugh.

Her Alibi: This one takes place in America. Tom Selleck is an author with writer's block. He goes to a courtroom for inspiration and sees a beautiful woman (Paulina Porizkova) accused of murder. Selleck decides to provide her with an alibi and becomes involved in some political intrigue. The interactions between Selleck and Porizkova are terrific and very funny, but the best part by far is the running narrative of Selleck's character as he writes a book loosely (very loosely as you'll see) based on what's happening in real life with Porizkova.

After we have some comic relief, perhaps we'll add a Bond flick to the month's viewing. If I had my way, we'd watch the BBC miniseries that was made of Len Deighton's Game, Set and Match series (the books are Berlin Game, Mexico Set and London Match), but it's never been made available. I saw this when I was much younger on PBS and loved it. I had already read the books and I thought the series was well made (although I read somewhere that perhaps that author hadn't agreed). I even had my hubby read the book a year or two ago and he loved them. Sigh.

Since I have to stick to movies that are actually available, I think it will have to be Bond. Now, which one to choose ...