I had the good fortune to find this movie at my local library. After seeing it, I was dumbfounded at the fact that this film seems to have been essentially hidden from Sellers' fans. Benjamin Hoffman is a complex and perplexing character, and Sellers reveals the character's personality layer by layer. At first, Hoffman seems totally evil and cold. But as the story progresses, we see that he's a man with very limited social skills, trying to tackle a very difficult problem. He loves a woman from afar, and he learns that she could soon find herself in a disastrous situation. He may be giving her the world's leakiest lifeboat, so to speak, but it's all he has. Sinead Cusack is marvelous as Miss Smith, who has found herself in the most baffling of circumstances. A man she barely knows has blackmailed her into spending the weekend with him, but he treats her politely and makes it a point to be a proper host. He sleeps in the same bed with her but never even kisses her. He takes her shopping and out to dinner at a fine restaurant. This movie is an emotional roller-coaster ride, and it left me wanting to go get in line for another ticket.
