A melancholy air permeates The Defector. Perhaps the knowledge that this was Montgomery Clift's last role taints the viewer's experience somewhat but there certainly is very little else memorable about the film. Clift looks gaunt and nervous and even the actors around him seem to sense his imminent demise.
Raoul Levy (who also died the same year) directs with a listless hand and never draws any emotion from what could have been a much more resonant movie. Levy had just come off a terrific little road movie about hit men called Hail Mafia! (65) and in that light we are doubly disappointed with this lackluster effort.
Cynicism is the main theme here and although the film tries to take on the larger issues of patriotism, loyalty and betrayal it pulls up short, relying instead on cliché and a surface resemblance to better examples in the genre.
Raoul Levy (who also died the same year) directs with a listless hand and never draws any emotion from what could have been a much more resonant movie. Levy had just come off a terrific little road movie about hit men called Hail Mafia! (65) and in that light we are doubly disappointed with this lackluster effort.
Cynicism is the main theme here and although the film tries to take on the larger issues of patriotism, loyalty and betrayal it pulls up short, relying instead on cliché and a surface resemblance to better examples in the genre.