INTERESTING BUT BIASED.
I saw this on tv years ago (that is evil British Imperialist tv).
I felt it was a not a great film,putting aside the politics which I don't agree with.
Watching it again on dvd,it is a well made film,it mixes fact and fiction to make its point.
It is interesting to watch it now that peace has come to Northern Ireland and Gerry Adams is getting paid by the British taxpayer.
The cliched rhetoric of the IRA people in this seems very dated.
I note how the bad guys (British officials/Northern Irish police)refer to the place the film is set (NORTHERN IRELAND)as Ireland,I find this unlikely,the whole point is that it is NORTHERN IRELAND,part of the UK,the majority of people living there want it to be part of the UK and the government officials would not say IRELAND.
I think it is an error to give Cox's character an Irish name,a Catholic with an Irish sounding name is not going to be seen as unbiased in Northern Ireland?
Another character is described as a protestant,English protestants are usually described as Anglicans,Scottish people might be protestants but I think the term is used to make a political point.
But the film is not interested in the majority opinion,watching the film you don't get the loyalist or moderate nationalist point of view.
Where were the majority loyalist community meant to go if the IRA had won?
The republicans always go on about the shoot to kill policy of the security forces and there is good evidence that this happened on occasions but a lot more people were shot by terrorists groups.
If the security forces had had an official shot to kill policy you might think that a lot more terrorist suspects might have been shot?
But the film has a basis in real events,the investigation of the RUC (ROYAL ULSTER CONSTABULARY)is based on the STALKER INQUIRY and the STEPHENS INQUIRY.
The character ALEC NIVEN is based on AIREY NEAVE(in real life killed by terrorists) and CAPTAIN HARRIS is based on COLIN WALLACE,whose real life story would be rejected by any film studio.