Michael Neumann
The British have always enjoyed this kind of masochistic self-scrutiny, and what better wound to scratch than the notorious Profumo affair? The sex and treason scandal toppled England's conservative government in the early 1960s, and cost the life of at least one man: London doctor and celebrated freethinker Steven Ward, who enjoyed the heady, highbrow thrill of life in high places and understood how the quickest way into the corridors of power was through the pants of the men at the top. John Hurt manages to pull a sympathetic character out of the doctor's unsavory reputation, and freshman director Michael Caton-Jones recreates (with pitch-perfect sleaze) the boozy, lascivious mood of early '60s sex and politics. The details would have been compelling even without so much trendy visual overkill, but a little stylistic embellishment is to be expected in a film condensed to feature length from a proposed five-hour television miniseries. And although the script by Michael Thomas says nothing about power and privilege that isn't already common knowledge, it's nice to be reminded of the all-too human animal lurking just behind the typically English stiff upper lip.
paul2001sw-1
Viewed from the 21st century, the Profumo affair seems much ado about nothing, a sex scandal of an altogether more innocent age. Put to one side the marginal security issues, and all that is left is a bit of bad behaviour among the aristocracy, and to be frank, if you choose not to shoot these people, you can't really expect for anything more. It did leave one serious casualty, however: Stephen Ward, procurer of girls to the upper classes, who committed suicide after being abandoned by his friends when the going got tough. 'Scandal' tells his story, and manages to be reasonably sympathetic to Ward, Christine Keeler (the girl who slept with Profumo) and even (to some extent) the minister, although the facts don't quite seem to support the continuing strength of the bond between Ward and Keeler as depicted. The portrait of the early 1960s is well judged (without the film ever feeling overly historical), and there are interesting insights into the semi-professional sexual relationships between the smart set and the girls on the make they adopted. But the best thing about 'Scandal' is really the acting. A distinguished array of British character actors perform their turns impeccably; and Joanne Whalley, while never quite looking eighteen, is a dead ringer for Keeler and always nice to look at. But in his own way, John Hurt (who plays Ward) is also great to look at, in his case because of his straightforward excellence as an actor. In his hands, Ward is an essentially mediocre man; and yet charming, far from wicked and ultimately tragic. In some senses, the whole affair provided a template for the subsequent portrayal of the private lives of politicians by the press, to the extent that today it would hardly make the waves that it did at the time. But this film goes far beyond historical reconstruction, and is well worth watching in spite of the relative triviality of the events is portrays.
simon-118
Much looked-forward to and gossiped aboutdramatization of the Profumo scandal which doesn't seem to know what it wants to be about and confuses the hell out of the viewer. It tries to capture the Sixties but it's arrogance and abundance of style over content betray it as a casualty of the Eighties. The script is oddly coy and cagey when it comes to key points in the pliot, and the whole Lucky Gordon episode is a mess. A fine performance by John Hurt goes some way towards salvaging something. But miniskirts in 1963? And while the end theme is pretty good, the lyrics are abysmal! Hurt's final scene with the falling cigarete though is splendid.
Syl
Scandal is not the best film of the eighties. It is rather a risqué raunchy and daring way to tell a sex scandal story in the sixties British politics. John Hurt is terrific as always and surprisingly Bridget Fonda does a great job as a British scandalous singer/actress. The best part of the film is during the credits at the end of the film with Dusty Springfield singing "nothing has been proved." It is also great to see Jean Alexander on the screen again. I never heard about the Profumo Affair until I got this tape. I was surprised to see Bridget Fonda in another London based film. Maybe she was trying to get away from being a Fonda back home, she does do her job. With Dusty Springield singing with the Pet Shop Boys, this movie is must for Dusty fans. I think Jean Alexander deserves an honor by now. After all, last year she was voted greatest British soap actress of all time. Almost 20 years after she departed Coronation Street, isn't time for her to get honor.
AD
