Screen Two (TV Series) The McGuffin (1986) User Reviews

An Odd Film; Apparently So Odd Few Have Seen It

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 20 February 2008]

I'm shocked that 23 years after this movie was released, I am the first person to review it. How can that be? It isn't that the film has nobody in it that anyone has ever heard of, since Charles Dance has acted in a number of movies and is face is fairly well known.

Whatever, this is a strange film. Maybe it was too strange for people in the mid '80s and, as I recall, it was a BBC film so maybe it got just limited exposure and mainly in England.......yet.....I bought a used VHS copy here in the States. ( I'm just trying to figure out what there are no reviews on this.)

Some of the stuff I liked and didn't like, in no particular order: the film has a lot of style to it, but the lead character - Dance playing "Paul Hatcher" - is just too unappealing. The main character is a transvestite and begins to really act weird in spots. The script also is a bit talky for a suspense thriller. It need more action. It had an interesting premise: a movie critic who spies on his neighbors. He gets caught, and look out! Then, Hatcher, who isn't real stable to begin with, starts confusing reality with movie fiction. Without giving anything away, he winds up on the hit list of mobsters.

As I said, it's a strange film. Frankly, I'd like to see it again, this time with a good DVD transfer.

By the way, the definition of McGuffin - as used in film - is "a plot device that has no specific meaning or purpose other than to advance the story; any situation that motivates the action of a film either artificially or substantively. It's also written 'MacGuffin.'"

Does that clarify anything? Probably not, any more than the film does, which is another reason I would like to read others' opinions of this odd movie.

Another Fuzzy 1980's British movie

[pyenme · 5/10 · 7 September 2008]

I will be glad to add my views of this movie - as part of my "Charles Dance Collection". I researched to find his films, and have now seen a few, obscure, movies that puzzle me. This one qualifies for my puzzlement. Dance is a good actor, who got stuck in many fuzzy 80's movies that were attempts to be "art" - and missed the mark, in my opinion (see "Hidden City" or "Shortcut to Paradise"). First, the homage to Hitchcock just got distracting. Second, there were no sympathetic characters. Third, not enough meaningful talking, which is something I keep finding in 80's British movies (not that there aren't plenty of silly American movies from the same period, mind you...) - and I know not all movies can be Merchant and Ivory - but I keep thinking Dance could have made more of a mark on cinema if he had been more mainstream Hollywood or British - I would love to know what happened that he was not. Maybe he chose more stage than film? In any case, this one was a disappointment to me, even for my eclectic side.

Slightly odd, but well worth seeing.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 30 December 2023]

Film critic Paul Hatcher voyeuristically watches his neighbours, and elderly lady Mrs Forbes-Duthie, and her son Gavin, a transvestite. One evening Paul watches as the pair are both attacked and end up dead, when he reports it, The Police aren't keen to listen.

It's a very odd drama, but definitely worth watching, just know what you're getting into. It has various attitudes that are a little outdated now, especially as far as The BBC is concerned, they'd never repeat it, so get hold of it if you can.

It's a nice homage to Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece, Rear Window, 80's style of course. It's very much of the time, you almost feel like you're watching a Ruth Rendell drama, it has that vibe, cutting edge for the time I guess, a transvestite, a conspiracy, plenty of elements to make it interesting.

Charles Dance is one of those actors that I could watch in anything, and as you'd expect, he is very good, perhaps not one of his finer roles, but he definitely adds something, and oozes charisma and presence.

A cracking supporting cast, lots of well known faces, Mark Rylance, Anna Massey and Phyllis Logan, it features the delightful Ann Todd, who is delightful.

One thing I can't get out of my head, Puccini, played on an 80's synthesiser, bizarrely enjoyable.

7/10.

Actually, it's pretty good

[oloiatao · 9/10 · 20 August 2015]

As I work my way through Charles Dance's c.v., I've found myself frequently disagreeing with other reviewers, and that is especially true in the case of "The McGuffin."

It's a straightforward tribute to Alfred Hitchcock's immortal "Rear Window." Dance plays Paul Hatcher-not-Thatcher, a part-time teacher and film critic with an inexplicably nice home for one so underemployed. When not watching films or poking pretty girls, he's watching his neighbors. When he sees an elderly neighbor in trouble, his fundamental niceness drives him from strict voyeurism to meddlesome irritant with astonishing speed for an otherwise bog-standard urban Englishman.

Of course, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and hell is briefly where poor ol' Paul ends up as The Bad Guys torture him. But our guy is as brave as he is nice. Others have criticized poor Paul for being unlikeable, and I'm confused. In an uncaring, violent world, here's a guy who helps little old ladies; adopts ugly, ill-behaved dogs; rescues porn actresses from a baying mobs of reporters; and stubbornly pursues justice on behalf of people he doesn't really know. What's not to like?

For me, the only jarring note was a scene where Paul makes love to the porn actress. In my mind, a memory of my mother scolding my little brother clanged "Don't touch that! You don't know where it has been!" A feature, I suppose, of how much AIDS has changed the way we live since the film was made.

A final note: kudos to Jerry Stiller for the absolute funniest cameo ever.