mjkpbm This film takes on a complex political issue: the role of the British in Northern Ireland in the 1980s. There are good performances from many of the actors (including a young Frances McDormand), some rousing action, atmospheric cinematography and plenty of local color. But the script makes too little effort to tackle the gray areas involved in this conflict. It's not balanced in its treatment of some complex issues. This could have been a movie that showed how both sides had valid arguments to make, why both factions felt they needed protection from the other, and how that lead to brutal violence on both sides.Instead, it chooses a melodramatic story line, with a decidedly "kick out the British" bias. Too often, the Brits are depicted as evil oppressors who will stop at nothing to hold onto power. The film barely acknowledges that there were plenty of lifelong Northern Irelanders who wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom under Crown rule. McDormand's character, a crusader for civil liberties, seems interested only in documenting the Royal Ulster Constabulary's brutal practices against the IRA. Too little focus is given to the IRA's own murderous ways. Orange Order parades are mocked as barbaric "tribal rituals," while Sinn Fein types who want the British out are given a much more sympathetic treatment, depicted as salt-of-the-earth ordinary folk who simply want freedom and sit crying in smoky pubs while singing songs of rebellion. A more nuanced portrait of both factions was needed, but this film doesn't deliver it. Watch '71 (2014) instead.

Chris Lawson Whooaa! Slow down, sol1218 from Brooklyn NY.The political scene in the U.K. looked like this: Edward Heath, bachelor leader of the Conservatives, won the election in 1970. He took Britain into the then Common Market in 1973, but called an election in February 1974 when the miners forced him to declare a three-day week.The Tory slogan for the election was: Who governs Britain? The result was confused, but the message was fairly clear: Not you, matey. Labour under Harold Wilson took office with a slim majority. Wilson called a second election in October, which he won narrowly, increasing his majority slightly.He held a referendum on the Common Market in 1975, which he won by sidelining the extremists of both Left and Right. He ruled until 1976 when he resigned from politics, for reasons which were obscure at the time, but probably because he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's. It is certainly true that the Right plotted endlessly against him.Jim Callaghan, who had been Chancellor, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, took over as P.M. and called an election after his full five-year term. (In the U.K. governments normally call elections after four years.) In fact Callaghan was forced to do so because of a move by the Scottish Nationalists. Had he called the election just a year earlier, he stood a good chance of winning, say many pundits.Meanwhile, the Conservatives had deposed Edward Heath who had lost them two elections, and Maggie Thatcher replaced him as leader. She swept to power in 1979, and as we all know, won the next two elections.Economic chaos was the watchword of the day and there were many strikes. The situation in Northern Ireland, which had started simmering with the Civil Rights movement of 1968, gradually deteriorated. The assassinated politician of the film whose name is Nevin, may well represent Airey Neave, a war hero who had escaped from the high-security Colditz Castle, a German-speaking lawyer who had attended the Nuremberg Trials and a hardline Conservative with military and security connections, who was a close adviser of Thatcher. He was blown up outside the House of Commons on March 30, 1979, by the INLA a few weeks before the election.Ken Loach has never made any secret of his sympathies for the Irish cause. His powerful film "Wind that shakes the barley", which apparently did not make much money in the U.K., had Conservative politicians fulminating about treason and lack of patriotism because of his portrayal of the brutal Black and Tans. The name was given to the ex-British army personnel and (inaccurately) also to the auxiliaries who were sent to Ireland between 1920 and 1921 to crush the IRA and Sinn Fein, but who also attacked and killed civilians. Historians agree, however, that Loach was pretty accurate in his historical recreation. The film also shows the ruthlessness of Irish-on-Irish killings in the Civil War afterwards.

Euromutt "Hidden Agenda" deals with the (rather clumsy) murder in Northern Ireland by British security forces of an American lawyer (Dourif) working for an civil liberties NGO, and the subsequent efforts of his girlfriend and co-worker (McDormand) and a high-ranking British police officer (Cox) who is assigned to investigate the incident to uncover what happened and why. It's certainly no secret that the British security forces overstepped the bounds of their authority on numerous occasions in Northern Ireland, and had the makers of the film concentrated in that, this could have been a fine political thriller.Unfortunately, the team of writer Allen and director Loach lay it on way too thick as McDormand and Cox's characters uncover a conspiracy on the part of the Tory party and the British military-industrial complex to undermine the Labour party and bring Thatcher to power. This, of course, takes place at the instructions of the CIA (gasp!), and heavy-handed parallels to the 1973 coup against Allende in Chile (long one of Loach's hobbyhorses) are thrown in to drive the point home.Once this less-than-hidden agenda on the part of the filmmakers becomes apparent, the remainder of the film becomes thoroughly predictable, and the viewer is struck by how forced and unrealistic much of the dialogue is, and all the talent of the cast cannot rescue it from becoming an annoyance. In conclusion, I can only recommend this film if you want to see an example of why Ken Loach is vastly overrated.

Gustavo Bastos During the dark(est) days of the irish protestant/catholic war, a group of human rights activists went to Irland to make some research and reports and call the attention of the press. But not only the press is paying attention to them... And one of them is murdered and his agenda is missing. His partner is persued by some members of the local government. Very well constructed movie about political nets that a government can do to hide the thruth....