joasiafly
I am a Patrick Wilson fan and have been watching several of his movies on Amazon.I'm not one for political thrillers, but I'm a Polish-American and the subject matter appealed. I was expecting a typical Tom Clancy-type action movie but what a terrific surprise this was! I was skeptical about the production, but this was extremely well done - the cinematography was top notch, the dialogue was superb, acting and directing were excellent.A truly great touch was that Polish actors played Polish characters, Russians played Russians, Americans played Americans - no Hollywood-ization of this story. If Hollywood had made this film, you could expect no less than George Clooney or Matt Damon in the lead for purpose of box office returns $$$$.This movie was a 48-hour rental, and I started to watch it late at night, expecting to only view the first few minutes and then finish the next day, but I was on the edge of my seat and watched it straight through.If you're looking for blood and guts action thrillers or sophomoric, geeky films, this is not for you.Highly recommended.
inioi
One of many examples supporting the quote: "Truth is stranger than fiction" is perfectly portrayed in spying world.The achievements, risks, situations that have experienced some spies are, in fact, difficult to believe for a normal person.The film is about a the times Ryszard Kukliński passed top secret Warsaw Pact documents to the CIA between 1972 and 1981 , and it shows clearly Kuklinski's courage and the risks he was exposed, keeping everyone in suspense until the last minute.The movie is an outstanding tribute to this real event and is beautifully made: actors performance, filming, photography, music...9/10
ulfahl69
Possible that Kukliński was a double agent, of the Soviet GRU, used in an operational game with the CIA. A Polish Minister of Internal Affairs during communist times, Czesław Kiszczak revealed such a theory in a later interview, while a former Soviet military attaché, Yuriy Rylyov, claimed so directly in an interview. Historians, like Paweł Wieczorkiewicz and Franciszek Puchała (a general in the Polish Army during communist times) suggest, that the knowledge Kukliński had was exaggerated, and while he had a lot of information about the Polish Army and the organization of the Warsaw Pact in general, he could not have had detailed information on Soviet plans, since no one in Poland had it. Puchała supported his opinion in official hearings of Kukliński by Polish prosecutors during his revised trial. Revealing plans about the enforcement of martial law in Poland, which would make a Soviet invasion unnecessary, could have been profitable for the Soviet side, ensuring that the USA would not be surprised by martial law and would not undertake unpredictable actions against the Soviets. It is noteworthy, that despite Kukliński's revelations, the USA did not warn Solidarity about martial law. The Soviets took the escape of such an important spy nonchalantly and did not demand any consequences from the Polish politician responsible for intelligence, namely Czesław Kiszczak. Also, the matter of Kukliński's sons' deaths is unclear and they may have been part of a protection program; besides, according to Wieczorkiewicz, such revenge on a defector's family would be quite unusual for Soviet intelligence.
Bakarr Barrie
I have always been an avid reader of spy novels and I was one to never turn down a good cold war era movie. Jack Strong being a polish movie raised some doubts and I was convinced it was some mediocre attempt at a spy thriller with average acting at best. Boy was I in for a surprise. This movie had me at the edge of my seat and kept me guessing to the very end. I am not going to attempt to deconstruct the movie and try to analyze it in depth but if you are fascinated by spy thrillers as I am, this movie is definitely not one you will want to miss. And to the reviewer who gave it one star I think you hold something against the poles especially as you are from Latvia. A cold war era grudge maybe?
AD
