
Rogue CIA agent Sam Boyd is called back by "the Company" to do some work. Namely a hostage trade of jailed Soviet spy Pyiotr Grushenko for an American agent the Soviets had taken. In the newly united Germany the trade goes bad and Grushenko and Boyd find themselves on the run from both the KGB and the CIA as they unravel an International espionage plot set at the end of the Soviet era. American and Soviet find themselves in an uneasy partnership as they hop around Europe tryi... (Full plot summary below)
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Rogue CIA agent Sam Boyd is called back by "the Company" to do some work. Namely a hostage trade of jailed Soviet spy Pyiotr Grushenko for an American agent the Soviets had taken. In the newly united Germany the trade goes bad and Grushenko and Boyd find themselves on the run from both the KGB and the CIA as they unravel an International espionage plot set at the end of the Soviet era. American and Soviet find themselves in an uneasy partnership as they hop around Europe trying to stay alive. Notes: Baryshnikov hated this movie he refused to even do publicity for it.
Leave your thoughts about Company Business.
| Hartford CourantMalcolm JohnsonThis cloak-and-dagger saga resembles an elaborate human version of the great MGM animated chase cartoons featuring Tom and Jerry. |
| User ReviewOliver BHackman in a more comedic film than usual and ex-Soviet ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov in a rare movie appearence make this a very interesting film. It's pretty light as far as spy thrillers go but it works on its own level, and Baryshnikov isn't as bad an actor as you might expect. In any case it's surely a better idea to watch him in this than in SATC. |
| User ReviewSeth RTypical, but Gene Hackman is always cool to watch. I mean, a movie about a spy who is overweight, balding and sporting a sweet 'stache is going to have a lot of fun elements to it. Despite this, the movie is somewhat of a flop when it comes to plot, but who is counting, really? |
| User ReviewAllan CThis film isn't bad, but it seems like it should have been a whole lot better considering the talent involved and a strong premiss. According to IMDB, director Nicholas Meyer was so annoyed at the studio's interference with this film's East vs West plot, that he recycled it on his next film, "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," which is a far better film. Nicholas Meyer wrote and directed the film, and I've always thought of Meyer as someone who deserves more recognitions for reliably curing out good entertainment, ranging from "The Seven Percent Solution" to "The Wrath of Khan." In this film Gene Hackman is a retired CIA agent who is called back to facilitate a prisoner exchange with the Soviets. Mikhail Baryshnikov is the Russian prisoner. Things are not what they seem and Gene and Mikhail end up on the run from both the East and West. Kurtwood Smith and Terry O'Quinn play US baddies. There are some great moments sprinkled throughout the film, but you can definitely tell there was tinkering as the tone and focus of the story seems to make some wild shifts throughout. Michael Kamen provides one of his standard action film scores. Hackman is great and manages to carry much of the film on his shoulders, making it watchable, but this film should have been a whole lot better. |
| User ReviewPanos Ttries hard to be a serious spy flick but is not very successfull. not too bad a film though |
| User ReviewPrivate Uvery underrated movie. must see to appreciate. |
| User ReviewErik GWhat could have been a great low-tech, on-the-lam spy drama is ruined by too much editing and a plot that just never adds up. Hackman is solid as a semi-retired old spy armed with a Swiss army knife, but Baryshnikov never really seems to get into his role. It has its moments, but overall the film just rambles on like a slow-moving train without a conductor. |
| User ReviewMelanie DNothing much to hold your attention here, and certainly no character development. Baryshnikov should have stuck to dancing, and Hackman's talents are wasted. |
| User ReviewFrances HA former agent of the Central intelligence Agency (Gene Hackman) is called back to duty for a prisoner exchange in Berlin, Germany, when he is told to escort a former KGB agent (Russian ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov) for the exchange. Part of the exchange includes $2-million in drug money. At the exchange, which takes place in an abandoned, blocked off subway tunnel, something is wrong and gunfire is exchanged. Now, the two aged agents must go on an international search to find the truth of who was behind the assassination attempt, which may involve a combined effort of the CIA and KGB. This is a disappointing adventure film. The drama is pretty weak, and there is very weak adventure. There are even weak plot twists that are not too surprising. I also felt that there was little to no chemistry between Hackman and Baryshnikov. Out of the two lead actors, I felt that Baryshnikov gave the weakest performance. Baryshnikov was not believable as a former KGB agent, and he was just plain weak all around in the movie. Hackman's performance was not his best either. His performance, though slightly better than Baryshnikov's, was one-dimensional as was his character. In fact, the character development in this film was real weak in this film. I felt that there was no development with either lead character that made them interesting, and there was no development in those trying to stop them from finding out the truth. Another problem with this film is that it's dated. Because it takes place near the end of the Cold War, we get dated references to that time. Unless you are old enough to remember that time, you would be completely oblivious to any of the references mentioned in this film. There was nothing special with those trying to stop them in fact. And their performances lacked in just about everything to make them interesting. I really didn't care about who they were and why they were after the two leads. I also felt that the surprise plot twists pretty much flopped, and many things were pretty predictable. In one scene, when Baryshnikov's character finds Hackman's character at the Safe House in Berlin, they go across the street and Baryshnikov begins to shoot the doorbell, missing the first two times he fires. The third time's the charm, and the building explodes. You pretty much knew what was going to happen when Baryshnikov asks Hackman for his gun. And there is a little joke in their conversation where Hackman gives Baryshnikov his silencer so that the neighbors aren't woken up as the weapon is fired. That little silencer bit is the only little bit of humor I honestly can remember in the entire movie. If there were any zingers from anybody in this movie that was meant as a joke, I completely missed it. The music was pretty forgettable in the film. I think that there were only instrumentals in the entire film in fact. And we never see a hint of Baryshnikov's dancing background in this movie, which could have been used for a quick-witted one-liner from Hackman. According to some sites I read, Baryshnikov simply hated the finished product and refused to participate in the promotion of this movie. And I can't blame him. The movie is a weak effort on the part of the script writers and just about everybody else involved. If you want to waste time, then check this movie out on HBO or another movie channel on a rainy day when there is nothing better to do. But don't expect a good movie, because this one simply is not one. |
| User ReviewMickey MA former agent of the Central intelligence Agency (Gene Hackman) is called back to duty for a prisoner exchange in Berlin, Germany, when he is told to escort a former KGB agent (Russian ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov) for the exchange. Part of the exchange includes $2-million in drug money. At the exchange, which takes place in an abandoned, blocked off subway tunnel, something is wrong and gunfire is exchanged. Now, the two aged agents must go on an international search to find the truth of who was behind the assassination attempt, which may involve a combined effort of the CIA and KGB. This is a disappointing adventure film. The drama is pretty weak, and there is very weak adventure. There are even weak plot twists that are not too surprising. I also felt that there was little to no chemistry between Hackman and Baryshnikov. Out of the two lead actors, I felt that Baryshnikov gave the weakest performance. Baryshnikov was not believable as a former KGB agent, and he was just plain weak all around in the movie. Hackman's performance was not his best either. His performance, though slightly better than Baryshnikov's, was one-dimensional as was his character. In fact, the character development in this film was real weak in this film. I felt that there was no development with either lead character that made them interesting, and there was no development in those trying to stop them from finding out the truth. Another problem with this film is that it's dated. Because it takes place near the end of the Cold War, we get dated references to that time. Unless you are old enough to remember that time, you would be completely oblivious to any of the references mentioned in this film. There was nothing special with those trying to stop them in fact. And their performances lacked in just about everything to make them interesting. I really didn't care about who they were and why they were after the two leads. I also felt that the surprise plot twists pretty much flopped, and many things were pretty predictable. In one scene, when Baryshnikov's character finds Hackman's character at the Safe House in Berlin, they go across the street and Baryshnikov begins to shoot the doorbell, missing the first two times he fires. The third time's the charm, and the building explodes. You pretty much knew what was going to happen when Baryshnikov asks Hackman for his gun. And there is a little joke in their conversation where Hackman gives Baryshnikov his silencer so that the neighbors aren't woken up as the weapon is fired. That little silencer bit is the only little bit of humor I honestly can remember in the entire movie. If there were any zingers from anybody in this movie that was meant as a joke, I completely missed it. The music was pretty forgettable in the film. I think that there were only instrumentals in the entire film in fact. And we never see a hint of Baryshnikov's dancing background in this movie, which could have been used for a quick-witted one-liner from Hackman. According to some sites I read, Baryshnikov simply hated the finished product and refused to participate in the promotion of this movie. And I can't blame him. The movie is a weak effort on the part of the script writers and just about everybody else involved. If you want to waste time, then check this movie out on HBO or another movie channel on a rainy day when there is nothing better to do. But don't expect a good movie, because this one simply is not one. |