The really merits more of 2 and 3/4 stars, for the most part, it is adequately proficient for a low budget made for TV (with problems such as the exceedingly slow car chase, the equally exceedingly limited amount of action for an 'action/thriller' genre film) and is only hurt further by the very predictable elements thrown in (an entire spy agency takes forever - and fails to trace a phone, but the bad guy in the bad frosted hair job finds the phone in a bathhouse almost instantaneously?) further weaken the willingness to give credit for the cast and crew being somewhat game.
There's no chemistry between the actors and the performances, even from a known elements such as Rhys-Davies, are perfunctory at best. Ian Roberts is a very attractive man, but is wasted as a heavy, in a role typically given to stunt men who want to act, as an example of where the performances fail. The low budget elements (such as the makeup job on the lead's lover after the darkroom attack by the bad guys) are seriously, albeit unintentionally laughable.
This might have been more successful if they gone for a camp and fun spy conception, as Clive Owen did for his part in the Steve Martin version of the Pink Panther, or the David Niven (Bond) version of Casino Royale. Instead, this looks and feels like a TV pilot that a network spent some money on and then realized it didn't deserve to be picked up for a full season.
There's no chemistry between the actors and the performances, even from a known elements such as Rhys-Davies, are perfunctory at best. Ian Roberts is a very attractive man, but is wasted as a heavy, in a role typically given to stunt men who want to act, as an example of where the performances fail. The low budget elements (such as the makeup job on the lead's lover after the darkroom attack by the bad guys) are seriously, albeit unintentionally laughable.
This might have been more successful if they gone for a camp and fun spy conception, as Clive Owen did for his part in the Steve Martin version of the Pink Panther, or the David Niven (Bond) version of Casino Royale. Instead, this looks and feels like a TV pilot that a network spent some money on and then realized it didn't deserve to be picked up for a full season.