JohnHowardReid Viewers who buy this DVD will undoubtedly feel they've been sold out, but the movie is interesting nonetheless -- for all the wrong reasons: The Israeli locations, like the photography itself, are starkly unappealing and totally unattractive. Yet, for all that, they do hold the interest. The stars, on the other hand, are likewise deglamorized, but here the effects are repulsive rather than captivating. Widmark looks absolutely haggard in some of his close-ups, while Gayne Hunnicutt looks garishly sinister with her mouth full of sharp, crooked teeth. As for Reed, he presents as an overweight, chunky slob. The script places a juvenile emphasis on car chases and destruction for destruction's sake. True, these sequences are excitingly staged if you're in the mood for them, but the plot on which all this depends comes across as an unbelievable mishmash of spies versus spies. The direction is sometimes effective in the way it utilizes real locations. At other times, however, it's just TV routine. And yet there are a few odd occasions in which it's experimental. Yes, often clumsily made, yet at other times quite skillful, this movie's hold on the viewer is often tenuous and tedious, yet sometimes quite exciting.

Chase_Witherspoon Awful, wretched account of spies converging in Jerusalem in order to either aid or obstruct the departure of double-agent Oliver Reed after a contract is put out on him by both CIA and KGB interests. Local former CIA spy turned antiquities dealer (Widmark) is approached by Reed (his former protégé) to assist his exit, but finds himself becoming implicated in a saga in which he wanted no involvement.One could only assume that Reed, Widmark, Wanamaker, Hunnicutt & Sheybul agreed to appear in this movie for the opportunity to visit Israel. Perhaps that's why they titled it "The Sell Out". Hunnicutt looks good in a teasing negligee and Sheybul is suitably sinister (perhaps some residual good-will from his former Bond villain colours his performance - there is a mildly creepy moment where he nibbles on a slice of cucumber while passively threatening Hunnicutt), but everyone and everything else associated with this picture is pure bunkum.Endless double cross, incessant car chases, inane dialogue and woeful attempts at patriotic sympathy are just a few of the fault-lines that permanently fracture this would-be thriller. The film's meandering, incoherent narrative loses its way quickly and never recovers; the climax is an absolute non-event (and so dimly lit as to be virtually invisible), but to be disappointing, there would have needed to have been something better anticipated, and that was never an expectation after enduring the first 85 minutes of this abject failure.

MARIO GAUCI Typical (and typically complex) Cold War spy saga, not the best in the genre by far – but still counting among its admirers film-geek supremo Quentin Tarantino! The narrative deals with hounded KGB man Oliver Reed who's wanted by one side and deemed expendable by the other; the only one who can help him is Richard Widmark, recently retired from the C.I.A. and currently living with Reed's ex-flame (Gayle Hunnicutt) in Israel! On Reed's trail are Sam Wanamaker of the C.I.A. and Vladek Sheybal of the KGB; an Israeli agent, who's trying to keep the situation under control, is sympathetic to Widmark but ends up paying for the interest with his life. As a film, It's watchable enough but hardly outstanding, despite a plethora of action sequences set to a pounding score and culminating in a desert trek fraught with peril. Even so, the star combo works surprisingly well (watching them dressed up in Jewish garb "praying" beneath the Weeping Wall is an unintentionally comic highlight), the supporting cast all pull their weight (particularly Sheybal's sleek but ruthless hit-man), and the overly-hysterical Hunnicutt is ultimately exposed as a femme fatale.THE SELL OUT is available on a budget DVD containing two other espionage titles (all under the dubious name of "Great Spy Movies"): these are the obscure THE INSIDE MAN (1984) – which, at least, offers some interest due to the presence in the cast of Dennis Hopper and Hardy Kruger – and the distinctly unappetizing HANGMEN (1987) with Sandra Bullock and Jake LaMotta!

bkoganbing The Sell-Out finds Oliver Reed as an American agent who's turned and become a double agent for the Soviets. Now he wants out of their system because he's found it's not all it's cracked up to be. Unfortunately both sides want to see him taken out.What to do for Ollie. When you've got a friend like Richard Widmark who was your original sponsor at the Central Intelligence Agency and now retired to Israel with your former mistress Gayle Hunnicutt you go there for more than one reason. Widmark agrees to help him flee, but as it turns out comes at a terrible price.This Israeli made feature had the distinct aroma of tax write off around it. Everyone just walks through their parts and collects their salary. Especially Oliver Reed who it seems had to have his entire performance dubbed so he could sound convincingly American. Seems like you could have gotten another American or made him British and saved a lot of money.The cinematography in and around Jerusalem was nice to see, it took your mind off a very trite spy story.