Movie Review: CIA: Exiled

CIA: Exiled a.k.a Curacao a.k.a. Deadly Currents 

Starring: George C. Scott, William Petersen, Julie Carmen, Alexei Sayle, Trish Van Devere, Maria Ellingsen, Philip Anglim, Dennis Lipscomb, Russell Milton, David Dunard, George Cheung, Larry Stewart, Larry Bucklan, Gilbert John Sparen, Orlando Cuales, Tony Lam, Roel Jungslager, Milton Kasdjo, Philip Rademaker, Susan Madison, Rudsel Jansen, Tonny Paidin, Ngatimin Karyodrono, Wirsat Dipotiko, Hebron Adoptie, Dennis Christopher 

Director: Carl Schultz 

Circling Curaçao, Jones Programming Partners, USA, Netherlands, 1993. 

This movie can be found in Fuel Injected Films 20 Movie Collection by Mill Creek Entertainment. 

Based on James D. Buchanan's novel "The Prince of Malta". 

Cargo ship The Prince of Malta explodes and sinks. Several years later Stephen Guerin (William Petersen) is a former CIA-operative who is stuck in small island of Curacao. His pal Cornelius Wettering (George C. Scott) is an eccentric bar keeper telling stories about sharks and scaring tourists. Stephen works as a petty official at the US embassy. 

Stephen Guerin

Cornelius Wettering

Terrorists rob a bank and take hostages including Cornelius. Cornelius shows his negotiating skills and also his combat skills. This makes him a local hero. Stephen has girlfriend Diana (Maria Ellingsen) who wants more from Stephen than he is willing to give. Stephen hates South African diplomats as it is still the Apartheid era. 

Bank robbery

Friedrich

Diana

South Africans with suave diplomat Friedrich (Dennis Christopher) and Dr. Seemuller (Alexei Sayle) want something from Stephen. Also CIA-agent Julia (Julie Carmen) is spying on Cornelius and nanny-sitting Stephen. A man from Cornelius' past named Joshua (Larry Stewart) is murdered. The story then involves smuggling, Chinese gangsters (Tony Lam and George Cheung), fraud and espionage. 

Joshua

Julia

Dr. Seemuller

The story opens up very slowly. It is quite hard to get a hang of what are the motivations and loyalties of the characters. Petersen and Scott land professional acting roles as two bored men haunted by their pasts. The style is kept quite realistic, so action is kept as minimum. The fans of spy flicks in the style of John Le Carre will probably enjoy the story. The story of this TV-movie is good but the production is not very special and lacks enthusiasm.

Harold Hsung and Worthy Hsung

Rating: Average