Movie review: ‘The Fourth Protocol’

FloridaGator80

Spy movies have a tough time balancing action with plot. A saturation of plot and you experience a movie made from a John le Carré novel (not a bad thing – just watch “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”) and at the other end you have an all-action spectacular such as “True Lies” with Arnold Schwarzenegger (click here to read my review), which is as good an action-spy flick as you could ever watch. Of course, each is excellent in its own way … just watch “True Lies”and you’ll know what excellence in action-espionage can be. However, finding one that has a balance can be quite a treat. Today, I’m looking at “The Fourth Protocol” with Pierce Brosnan and Michael Caine. It fits this bill. It is adapted from Frederick Forsyth’s best-selling novel of the same name and never strays too far from center … so it is a quiet, solid espionage film you might not remember and has some decent action.

‘The Fourth Protocol’
(1987; 119 minutes; rated R; directed by John Mackenzie and starring Michael Cain, Pierce Brosnan and Ned Beatty)

A DOOMED MAN … AND HE DOESN’T KNOW IT

(NOTE: On March 4, 2016, I added some links. I expanded the review with additional opinion and trivia and the updating of links on Nov. 13, 2019. I again expanded it on Sept. 3, 2026.)

Frederick Forsyth’s first novel “The Day of the Jackal” was made into a wonderful film very true to the best-seller (click here to read my review). Forsyth’s “The Fourth Protocol” was another book in which the film stands up well to the novel – especially for its ability to compress a bunch of details into the restrictions represented by becoming a movie. Such compression often leaves filmmakers looking stupid, as they try to do the impossible translation of literary nuance and layers.

However, the film translation of “The Fourth Protocol” manages to take significant portions of the novel and wrap them up in a sentence (for example the subplot of exposing a spy in another espionage service’s staff that’s taken care of with just a few lines of dialogue and a scene or two, while takes up dozens of pages in the novel) or manages to sidestep them without leaving a hole in the film. Also, the co-stars do solid work so that you are not distracted by either bad casting with the wrong actor in the role (say Mickey Rourke in “A Prayer for the Dying” – click here to read my review) or over- or under-acting by the stars.

A promotional photo from the movie “The Fourth Protocol.”

Here’s the plot (even more condensed than the film): A “fourth protocol” to the nuclear weapons treaty of the day states that a nuclear power cannot introduce a portable device to another country. In “The Fourth Protocol,” the Soviet Union, through its espionage and killer arm of the KGB, is going to do just that: It will detonate a small nuclear device in Great Britain in way to blame the U.S. military stationed there and force the British people to back away from supporting the U.S. They plan to do it by smuggling in the bomb components and having the whole thing assembled and then detonated by their best agent suited to imitating an Englishman and being able to incorporate smoothly into UK life.

Set against this is a British espionage agent who is on the outs with his interim boss and he has a devil of a time getting everyone on board that there is actually a nuclear bombing plot afoot. The movie goes back and forth between the two and balances well the action necessary to tell the tale as well as the characters’ personal development.

Michael Caine plays “John Preston,” who is the British agent who uncovers the plot. Pierce Brosnan plays “Valeri Petrofsky” (undercover as “James Edward Ross” in Great Britain) and is the KGB’s top agent with experience in the UK. The two do credible efforts with their characters and Pierce is especially effective with a subtle conveyance that, although committed to the mission, he does have some doubts about the carnage he will create with the small nuclear device.

The ending has the subtle resolution to why things played out the way they did and is only spoiled for a moment by the uplifting score as Caine scoops up his son in victory (it’s an unnecessary moment and looks as if nothing more than filmmakers were ordered to have an “uplifting” moment at the end).

Here’s a rundown of the work of some of the principal cast:

  • A promotional photo from the movie “The Fourth Protocol.”

    A two-time Oscar winner and four-time nominee (not for this one) and three-time Golden Globe winner and nine-time nominee, Caine certainly doesn’t do his best work here, but he is efficient and competent … and that can make or break a film. Early on he appeared to be pressing a little too much in the role, but ultimately settles in as the maverick agent who has a better reputation than his interim boss (well, as much a maverick as any British agent can be). You won’t be disappointed with his work, but it isn’t a standout job. Caine was also in “The Eagle Has Landed” (click here to read my review) and was truly delightful in “California Suite” (click here to read my review). He gave a solid performance in the less-than-adequate remake of “Going in Style” (click here to read my review or, better yet, my review of the original that didn’t co-star Caine). He won his statues for “The Cider House Rules” and the overrated “Hannah and Her Sisters.” His nominations include “Alfie,” “Sleuth,” “Educating Rita” and “The Quiet American.”

  • A promotional photo from the movie “The Fourth Protocol.”

    A two-time Golden Globe nominee (not for this one) and former “James Bond,” Brosnan is perfectly cast here. He has the stoic mannerisms of a Soviet officer and, of course, is the perfect Brit (although he’s actually Irish). Brosnan’s best effort in this one is the subtle change as he gets closer to the devastation that will be at his fingertips. Brosnan was much better in the remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” (click here to read my review) and he was much worse in “After the Sunset” (click here to read my review). His best TV work is the mini-series “Noble House” (click here to read my review) – and it wasn’t “Remington Steele.” I believe Brosnan is a much better “007” than most critics would say and I liked him in “GoldenEye” (click here to read my review), but “Tomorrow Never Dies” wasn’t so good (click here to read my review).

  • The best supporting actor here is veteran character actor and Oscar nominee and Golden Globe nominee (not for this one) Ned Beatty, who plays KGB officer “Pavel Petrovic Borisov.” He is the one who alerts a KGB general about the plot. Beatty is very convincing in a small part. However, the small role helps make the film solid and it isn’t just a throwaway check-cashing piece of work. Beatty’s versatility shows from being a tough-minded cop in “The Big Easy” (click here to read my review) to a comedic role such as “Dean Martin” in “Back to School” with Rodney Dangerfield (click here to read my review). He earned his Oscar nomination for “Network” and his Globe nomination for “Hear My Song.” A native of Kentucky, Beatty died at 83 in 2021.
  • A promotional photo from the movie “The Fourth Protocol.”

    A Golden Globe winner (not for this one), Joanna Cassidy plays nuclear bomb expert “Irina Vassilievna” and as the film’s female lead plays a doomed character. Cassidy, who was “Zhora” in the sci-fi classic “Blade Runner,” does an unremarkable job but, like Caine, doesn’t mess it up and therefore keeps the film on track (she does a good sweating scene as she assembles the bomb with Brosnan – it’s quite metaphorical for their upcoming time in the bedroom). Cassidy won for TV’s “Buffalo Bill” in 1983.

  • Classical actor Ian Richardson does an ultra-smooth turn as “Sir Nigel Irvine” and is the espionage veteran who knows Caine’s value. Richardson, whose career over eight decades notched more than 100 roles, perfectly conveys the all-knowing and ultimately deceptive nature of the espionage game. He was in “Brazil” and his last film before his death in 2007 was “Becoming Jane.” He died at 72 of a heart attack.
  • You’ll recognize Julian Glover, who plays prissy boss “Brian Harcourt-Smith,” as the bad American who suckers “Indiana Jones” in that franchise’s “Last Crusade.” He does a nice job of being a stuck-up, egotistical twit here and you’ll also find him in the 007 thriller “For Your Eyes Only.”

“The Fourth Protocol” has very brief nudity, but, overall, wouldn’t be rated R today. Heck, most programs offered on some “networks” would have been rated “X” back-in-the-day. So, don’t worry about this one.

“The Fourth Protocol” was the 81st ranked film at the domestic box office in 1987 with $12.4 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. The No. 1 film of the year was “3 Men and a Baby” with $167.7 million with “Fatal Attraction” with $156.6 million. Films from that year that I’ve reviewed are:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Caine’s birth name is Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; and Brosnan’s middle name is Brendan.
  • When Brosnan is listening to the radio at the end of the film (waiting for the code phrase to detonate the bomb), the voice of the broadcaster is novelist Frederick Forsyth.
  • “The Fourth Protocol” was one of two spy movies by Caine in 1987. The other was “The Whistle Blower.”
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “Doubling for the old Soviet Union (Russia) was the country of Finland. The production shoot there ran for just the one week.”
  • Caine and Brosnan are only briefly together in the film and share no dialogue.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “Sir Michael Caine and author Frederick Forsyth had been friends for around ten years prior to this movie. In the three earlier filmed adaptations of Forsyth novels, Caine was never selected to be in them. So, the two decided to raise the financing themselves, so as to make sure they could work on a movie together. The two are billed as Executive Producers on this movie.”

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