Roush Review: ‘The Ipcress File’ Is a Kitschy Keeper of a Spy Caper

Matt Roush May 17, 2022, 1:00 pm

The Ipcress File

Matt's Rating:

I often felt like crying “U.N.C.L.E.” (as in The Man From) while watching The Ipcress File, a stylized 1960s-era spy caper.

The Manchurian Candidate (seen on a movie marquee) is another touchstone for this keen, kitschy six-part romp based on Len Deighton’s bestseller. You may also be reminded of shows like Secret Agent and the original Mission: Impossible as the twisty series spins its exotic web.

(Credit: Ben Blackall/Mikola Preovic / ©AMC+ /Courtesy Everett Collection)

In the role that helped make Michael Caine a star in a 1965 film, Peaky Blinders’ Joe Cole has insolent charm to spare as bad-boy agent Harry Palmer. “I am uncomfortable discussing my emotions,” he insists, but unlike his contemporary James Bond, who also has a license to kill, Harry lacks the will, showing remorse after a harrowing shootout.

Plucked from prison by a rogue bureau (led by a sly Tom Hollander) to find a kidnapped scientist during the height of the Cold War nuclear arms race, Harry works alongside alluring pro spy Jean Courtney (Lucy Boynton, fabulous) as they flit from London to Beirut to a Pacific testing atoll.