shanfloyd A quite interesting comedy about the British aristocrats in a newly-independent country of Africa. Colin Friels does a very decent job as the Mr. Leafy, the first secretary of British High Comissioner. So does Sean Connery. The screenplay has a very smart satirical flavor in it with fine sense of humor regarding royal formalities, sexual clichés and even venereal diseases.But the main problem of the movie is perhaps its ending. The ending is quite abrupt and the scene thereafter is surprisingly mundane. In fact, I don't get the idea behind all that stuff. I haven't read the original novel but seems like now I want to check it out.

aka_writer Well this movie is made to be joke and from the very beginning to the end, so it was. It is a good farce, shallow characters, obvious protogonist and antagonist and the man who learns what is right... I think it was pretty good and funny...

shell-26 William Boyd is a good writer and verges on greatness at times but this film seems to suffer from too much money and talent, but not enough effort.The book is funny. The naive Englishman Mr. Leafy tries to navigate through African politics and colonial interests. There are some interesting sexual subplots and classic scenes of trousers down British farce but the film loses all the subtlety and parody.Sean Connery appears. He has a supporting role which threatens to overbalance the film, he stops the plot in its tracks.Write William Write ! If I catch you behind a camera again, I'll pull out the plug and sit you down behind a typewriter until you come up with something as great as The New Confessions.

mifunesamurai The bawdy adventures of Mr. Leafy, a British diplomat caught up in all sorts of trouble in an African country. Very tongue-in-cheek. Overlooked and underrated on its initial release.