The Commissioner

John Hurt is "The Commissioner" in this 1998 drama.

The film begins with a horrific suicide and then reverts to a heavy scene between the British prime minister and a high-ranking government official, James Morton, who is fired. The reasons are political, but we aren't really told why or what happened. The PM wants to use Morton's abilities, so he sends him to Brussels as Britain's European Commissioner, and he is promised that his role will be in Foreign Affairs. Instead, it's Industry. Morton doesn't want the job as he feels it's a true exile, but he goes. He basically leaves his wife (Alice Krige) behind. She's sick of his philandering and wants a divorce.

In his job as Commissioner, Morton receives information about a huge German chemical company that is supposedly manufacturing nerve and biological weapons, and is about to merge with a British company. Everyone is all for the merger, but Morton delays it. He is given compelling documents from a former worker at the plant (Armin Mueller-Stahl). The investigation leads to some shocking information.

John Hurt is one of the greatest actors to come out of the UK, and he could act the phone book and get an Oscar nomination. I really didn't feel this role was fitting for an actor of his caliber, though he is excellent. Mueller-Stahl is a real standout as well, and Rosana Pastor is beautiful and convincing.

The problem is that we just don't find out enough about the characters and the back story, and in fact, the film ends and we really don't know how things are going to turn out for the most part.

I expect more important things from John Hurt, whose work in The Naked Civil Servant and Elephant Man stand as two of the most brilliant performances of all time.

There are some interesting twists in the movie, so there was a lot of thought put into the plot. Unfortunately, the execution did not live up to the potential provided by the plot. Actually, the plot of the movie is just as pertinent today as it was 10+ years ago of corporations with ties to politicians being able to be above the law. However, the script, the dialog, the pace, and the acting all left a little to be desired. Even the performance of the distinguished John Hurt seemed average at best. This seemed more along the quality of a made-for-TV movie. The redeeming value of the movie was that it has the theme that one must do things for the right reason, but it was rather painful process to get there.

Minister James Morton is sent to Brussels as the new British European Commissioner retreating from a government scandal. He is disappointed with his new portfolio as Commissioner for industry. That is until Helena Noguentes appears as the new Commissioner for the Environment. Add to this a media manipulation, a potential international disaster, high level corruption and a dash of American cavalier capitalism it makes for good watching.

I hadn't come across this until I saw it on cable - definitely worth a watch. Hurt virtually holds up the rest of the cast throughout although a good performance is put in by David Morrisey. This has been Sluizer's only attempt at making a film in English and is commendable. Moves well back and forth from location in London to Brussels.

Lets face it how many films could they make interesting about the EC?

The Commissioner is a great film starring John Hurt as the British Commissioner of Industry in the EU. His acting as usual is intensely engrossing as Commissioner Morton uncovers industrial corruption on a grand scale. But wait, which company is the most corrupt? And who is responsible for all the killings? Is Armin Mueller-Stahl really a company man who came in from the cold? Complex plot with many twists, and if you can follow it you have my admiration.

But at heart this film's significance lies in its forceful stance against big industry. You'll never question the validity of the WTO protestors again.

I had my finger on the fast-forward button while watching this, as I expected this to be a boring and mediocre political thriller and I'm not that very interested in politics. But what a surprise! It turned out to be a smart and very intelligent movie, with a realistic and intriguing story! Although lots of actions happen, on a very high tempo, the story always remains clear and comprehensible. John Hurt was extremely strong, the photography was nice and the camera-work effective. I also liked the music very much, it certainly contributed tot the tension in the film. I think it's great the way George Sluizer made this movie with possibly not that much money.