- Title: 3 Days of the Condor
- IMDb: link
Throwback Tuesday takes us back to a 70s spy thriller involving a CIA researcher who got in over his head. Adapted from James Grady‘s novel Six Days of the Condor, the film stars Robert Redford as the sole survivor of an attack on a CIA office in New York City. Contacting the CIA in an attempt to come in only results in another attempt on his life. On the run, with no one to trust, Joe Turner has to work out who wants him dead and why.
The film is most notable for the 70s technology and the moves the inexperienced, yet knowledgeable, Turner takes in order to get a handle on what is going on. Less amusing is the relationship between Turner and Kathy Hale (Faye Dunaway) who goes from his kidnap victim to love interest in pretty short order. This would certainly need to be rewritten if filmed today. Shot in both Washington and New York City, it does work as a snapshot of the time. At its best, 3 Days of the Condor is a man trapped in a world he can’t trust with only his wits to guide him. At its worst, director Sydney Pollack delivers an overcomplicated and uneven tale with some definite highs and lows.
While the film stays with Turner throughout, centering the story on him staying one-step ahead of those who want him dead (while simplifying him working out the why to a moment of clarity), perhaps the most interesting character of the film is the enigmatic spy and professional killer Joubert (Max von Sydow) who owes allegiance to no side but his own. The film’s most notable scenes come from the pair’s final confrontation as Joubert remarks on how well Turner could do in his field and the final scene between Turner and the deputy director of the CIA’s New York division (Cliff Robertson) which also illustrate how Turner, despite his skills, is quite different from both men.
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