Varying performances but Connery is great!!

The Offence is not a perfect film and some of the performances are slightly over-wrought, in particular Vivien Merchant who seemed to be acting in a different film from Connery. Sean-ie baby was Detective Sergeant Johnson all the time whilst Merchant appeared to be performing in one of Harold Pinter's bizarre nonsensical plays.

Ian Bannen's acting is unusual to say the least and is punctuated with stamping his feet on the ground and lots of groans and 'Aaaarrrrrrgggghhhhhhhs' (even when Connery isn't hitting him...) The script is very good despite the needless repetition of the line 'Something like the truth' uttered by Trevor Howard, Connery and finally Bannen.

The overall effectiveness of The Offence however is a result of Connery's performance which is easily the best of his career. He is simply terrific from start to finish and it's obvious that he really believed in this role as a means of stretching himself as an actor and distancing himself from the Bond franchise.

Its a pity that this opportunity to demonstrate his range involved a subject matter that could not attract a large audience and sadly this film failed at the box-office and has not been shown on British television for years...

Hopefully the release of The Offence on DVD will ensure that it begins to receive the recognition and acclaim that is so overdue.