The Profumo sex-and-spy case that toppled the Tory Party in 1963, recounted here in a powdered-over image and in the straightforward narrative style of a TV movie-of-the-week -- your basic Christine: Portrait of a Government-Wrecker. So narrow and businesslike in approach that you almost have to wonder what all the excitement was about (or, for that matter, what was the creative drive to make a movie about it in the first place). The occasional snippet of slow-motion or closeup of thighs and things fails (but tries) to add the necessary emphasis. Still, there are cracks and crevices open for outpourings of nostalgia from those who can recall the case and can fill in details themselves. With John Hurt, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, Bridget Fonda, and Ian McKellen; directed by Michael Caton-Jones. (1989) — Duncan Shepherd
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