Worse than expected
[A few spoilers herein - but do you really care?]
This is one of those films I'd been aware of ever since it was released, but made no effort to seek out as the reviews seemed tepid as best, despite subject matter that could have been interesting.
Alas, it was even worse than expected. The main problem: A script that comprises a series of completely improbable events. This would be sloppy even for a TV movie (which is largely how this film plays).
You know you're in trouble when it all hinges on a rogue Soviet spy who seems to murder people without making any effort to hide his actions, or even hide himself. The film doesn't bother explaining how he could avoid detection without any problem, even though everyone involved knows what he looks like. This is not a depiction of crimes that might occur in a U.S. urban area, it's a depiction of events as they would play out in Hollywood Writer Fantasyland.
Beyond that, the staging of the action scenes is completely inept (this is on director Richard Benjamin) as well as improbable. In just one example, a supposedly bad ass Soviet agent comes all the way here, then sets up an assassination attempt so that he needs to push River Phoenix out of his way, out of the driver's side of the car before standing up to try to take a shot. WTF? How about simply opening the passenger door, or even leaning out the window?
It gets worse from there - the "hostage exchange" is another scene that's just too preposterous for description - as is the ultimate fate of the rogue agent.
Anyway, you could watch Sidney Poitier dictate letters and he'd be interesting, so he's pretty much the sole highlight (of course it's not enough). Richard Jenkins comes off next best, but he's given very little to do (he's the only one that adequately conveys this could be a real life situation). Sorry, but River Phoenix is mostly terrible here. I'll certainly lay plenty of blame on the director and writers, but Phoenix is overwrought at best. His better work came in later films. I mention Phoenix mainly because his casting was one of the reasons I finally saw this, but it was a waste of time.
For a film that handles Soviet sleepers in excellent fashion, check out Telefon instead ...
"Get on board, dick."