I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

It was somewhat of a feature of the late 1960s to make bleak and world weary spy movies. This film is in this mould. I saw the film upon it's release and quite enjoyed it, albeit it is slow and a little dull. Still, I think that it is an interesting piece of film making and enjoyed the performances of Laurence Harvey and Tom Courtenay who play British agents who do not like each other. (Harvey is in fact a double agent). There are some good locations shots of 1960's London (mainly bleak) and Berlin (not so bleak). Harvey trudges around both capitals after been given an assignment to kill a Russian Spy - who is in fact himself. Mia Farrow is a trendy young thing (tho' a bit on the thin side)and adds love interest. However, as she keeps turning up wherever Harvey goes, is she as innocent as she appears? A young Peter Cook also stars as a rather irritating junior British agent. John Bird and Lionel Stander add a little humour into an otherwise humourless film. Definitely worth a look.

I won't go into much detail as I don't disagree with many of the negative comments cast here, but overall this is an eminently watchable film- I've seen it perhaps 6 times. I like the quirky off balance, alternating dark and light nature (but then again I loved Fay Grim and other flawed gems).And although likewise flawed there are some great individual performances great shots of London/Berlin ( I was in East Berlin in 1980 and it didn't look or feel much different) that make it the perfect rainy Wednesday afternoon companion.Note, as uneven as it is, overall I think films like this are a more enjoyable experience than current releases like the Girl Who Played with Fire or the Social Network that are more consistent; but consistently mediocre. But as always, YMMV.

This is the last film directed by Anthony Mann, whose 'Raw Deal' (1948) was the perfect noir film, and who was a man of immense talent. But he died while shooting this, and Larry Harvey finished the job. This resulted in an imbalance and a lack of conception and tone. What is mostly wrong with the way this turned out is that the film is 'so VERY late sixties' in its depiction of the bowler-hatted old school tie mandarins and spy chiefs as arch, coy, and menacing in a prep sort of way. Mia Farrow is also completely hopeless as 'the girl'. She is supposed to be an irresistible little elf of a thing, but she merely looks like she is dying of anorexia (her arms are as big as knitting needles, though less strong) and about as much elfin charm as a cockroach. Farrow may be a fine actress now, but she was terrible when young. Her failure, of course, took all the zing out of the picture. Larry Harvey is absolutely fascinating as a double-agent going to pieces in private, with a constipated desperation. Larry actually had that enigmatic, super-cool manner a lot of the time. He had cultivated it so well that it became ingrained and a part of him, and it had ceased to be affectation long before I knew him towards the end of his life. I had several long chats with him alone, when he dropped his guard very much indeed, and underneath any patina of persona he had made for himself, he was at heart a very genuine person. And he WAS as fascinating as he seems in his movies. He didn't know why either, but then true stars never do. This film is worth seeing for him, and for a hysterically funny cameo by John Bird. Clearly, Larry thought it was so funny he refused to restrain him, on a 'what the hell' basis, and a good thing too, as it made a rather pedestrian film come alive a bit. Lionel Stander, however, hammed up his part of a Russian so much he deserved an apple in his mouth. Per Oscarsson was wan and Ingmar Bergman-like, just as you would expect. Peter Cook floats around cheerily not knowing what to do and never did find out. Oh yes, this whole thing is about spies and betrayal and double-agents and all that sort of thing. Hardly matters. Tom Courtenay, that pipsqueak, cast here as a 'heavy', does not work. One does not believe in the rifle he is always carrying as a shooting stick, not his ability to use it. One strange aspect of this tale is that the double-agent is disillusioned and wants to return to Russia, but they won't let him and keep turning him back at the German border: a variation on Thomas Wolfe's 'You Can't Go Home Again'? Just joking. This film is past is 'view by' date.

It's difficult to watch the cold war thriller A DANDY IN ASPIC and not scratch your head wondering what is going on. Laurence Harvey is a double agent chosen by British intelligence to track down a double agent who is working for the Russians. The double agent turns out to be himself...and we know that early on so you spend the rest of the movie wondering who's who and what side are they on. Nevertheless, the game of cat-and-mouse played between Harvey and nasty British spy Tom Courtney (a great actor) is fun. A DANDY IN ASPIC is not a bad movie, it just that the plot is thicker than Laurence Harvey's out of control pompadour. Mia Farrow is a swinging London photographer who gets involved with Harvey and Lionel Stander plays a witty Russian mole.