Main Cast: Sean Connery, George Grizzard, Robert Conrad, Katharine Ross, G.D. Spradlin, Leslie Nielsen
Release Year: 1982
Country: US
Run Time: 117 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Based on Charles McCarry's 1979 novel The Better Angels, Wrong is Right is set in a near future in which violence has become something of a national sport and television news has fallen to tabloid depths (a significantly bigger stretch in 1982, when the film was released.) Star Sean Connery plays Patrick Hale, a globe-trotting reporter with access to a staggering array of world leaders. As the film opens, he has ventured to the Arab country of Hegreb to interview his old acquaintance, King Ibn Awad (Ron Moody). Awad has learned that the President of the United States (George Grizzard) may have issued orders for his removal; as a result, Awad) is apparently making arrangements to deliver two mini-nuclear devices -- each about the size of a small suitcase -- to a terrorist, with the intention of detonating them in Israel and the United States, unless the President resigns. In the intricate plot that unfolds, nothing is quite the way it seems, and {%Hale finds himself caught between political leaders, revolutionaries, CIA agents and other figures, trying to get to the bottom of it all. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Review
The next-to-last film from Richard Brooks was not a success when originally released but has built a cult following over the years. If viewed through a cult-movie mindset, it's easy to see why Wrong Is Right is appealing to that group of viewers. The script has a scathing, darkly funny take on international politics that one wouldn't expect from a well-funded Hollywood project of the early 1980's and also mixes up offbeat humor and message-oriented drama in a way that keeps the film from affecting a comfortable Hollywood style. Wrong Is Right is also packed to the rafters with a bevy of character actors who revel in getting such gutsy material to work with: Sean Connery shows a sly sense of humor in the lead role but many scenes are stolen by G.D. Spradlin as a non-nonsense intelligence agency chief, Rosalind Cash as a fiery female vice-president and Horst Buchholz as a wily arms dealer playing both sides of the fence. Behind the camera, Richard Brooks gives the film a swift pace and plays out the film's odd mix of messages and absurdist humor with a straight-faced approach that keeps the narrative from sliding off the rails. The end result is probably still too eccentric for mainstream audiences but cult movie fans with a yen for unusual Hollywood films are likely to consider Wrong Is Right a hidden treasure. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
John Saxon - Homer Hubbard; Henry Silva - Rafeeq; Robert Webber - Harvey; Rosalind Cash - Mrs. Ford; Hardy Kruger - Helmut Unger; Dean Stockwell - Hacker; Ron Moody - King Awad; Cherie Michan - Erika; Angelo Bertolini - Cardinal; Ivy Bethune - Housewife; Robert Alan Browne - Motorist; Barry Cahill - Husband; Art Evans; David Frankham - British Reporter; Teri Garr; Mickey Jones - Gunman; Paul Lambert - Defense Secretary; Kiva Lawrence - Receptionist; Jennifer Jason Leigh - Young Girl; Tony March - Abu; Keith McConnell - Smythe; Tom McFadden - Billy Bob Harper; Myron Natwick - Admiral; George Skaff - Qadee; Joe Whipp - John Brown; Alexander Zale - Faheem; Dayna O'Brien - President's Secretary; Donald Bishop - Congressman; Ken Gale
Credit
George Grenville - Associate Producer, Ray Summers - Costume Designer, Alan Hopkins - First Assistant Director, Richard Brooks - Director, George Grenville - Editor, Artie Kane - Composer (Music Score), Edward C. Carfagno - Production Designer, Fred Koenekamp - Cinematographer, Richard Brooks - Producer, Andrew Fogelson - Producer, Arthur Jeph Parker - Set Designer, Richard W. Pitman - Set Designer, Gene S. Cantamessa - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard Brooks - Screenwriter, Charles McCarry - Book Author
Wrong Is Right (Columbia Pictures, 1982) is a prescient black comedythriller about the theft of two suitcase bombs, featuring the then novel plot conventions of media bias, government conspiracy, and Islamic terrorism. The film, which starred Sean Connery as superstar TV news reporter Patrick Hale, and directed by Richard Brooks from his own script based on Charles McCarry's novel, The Better Angels, was a commercial and critical failure at the time of its release. Most reviews found the film implausible. British reviews castigated the film for its distributor's attempt to tie it in with James Bond in its advertising scheme and retitling of the film, The Man with the Deadly Lens. In France, where the film was called Meurtres en direct, it was compared negatively to Bertrand Tavernier's La Mort en direct, as did Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic. The New York Daily News emerged as a champion for the film, Liz Smith calling it "a sleeper not to miss" prior to its release, and Rex Reed and Kathleen Carroll giving it four and three and a half star reviews published a day apart.
The film is also notable for a joke at the end of the movie in which Connery rips off his toupee on camera. Jennifer Jason Leigh has a small role as a girl who is doing a fantasy killing of her parents on national TV (a controversial new recreational activity), and tells Hale that she hopes that her parents are watching, even though she has no particular grudge against them.
Based on Charles McCarry's 1979 novel The Better Angels, Wrong is Right is set in a near future in which violence has become something of a national sport and television news has fallen to tabloid depths (a significantly bigger stretch in 1982, when the film was released.) Star Sean Connery plays Patrick Hale, a globe-trotting reporter with access to a staggering array of world leaders. As the film opens, he has ventured to the Arab country of Hegreb to interview his old acquaintance, King Ibn Awad (Ron Moody). Awad has learned that the President of the United States (George Grizzard) may have issued orders for his removal; as a result, Awad) is apparently making arrangements to deliver two mini-nuclear devices — each about the size of a small suitcase — to a terrorist, with the intention of detonating them in Israel and the United States, unless the President resigns. In the intricate plot that unfolds, nothing is quite the way it seems, and Hale finds himself caught between political leaders, revolutionaries, CIA agents and other figures, trying to get to the bottom of it all.
Awards
Rosalind Cash was nominated for an Image Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture.
Translations
Germany: Flammen am Horizont
Russia: Неправый прав (фильм)
Brazil: Homem com a Lente Mortal, O
Finland: Kamera käy - tapa!
France: Meurtres en direct
Italy: Obiettivo mortale
Spain: Objetivo mortal
Sweden: Sekund före noll, En
