David Hare’s “Page Eight,” a compact, urbane thriller premiering Sunday on PBS (at 9 p.m. on Rocky Mountain PBS), is a jazz riff on multiple themes: an aging spy sticking to his possibly outmoded values, his awareness of the politics behind his country’s intelligence operations, and possible British complicity in illegal American torture operations.
There’s a lot going on in the space of two hours, and an impressive cast to carry it off. Bill Nighy (“Love Actually”) plays the sixty-something spy Johnny Worricker, a world-weary holdover from the Cold War era with multiple ex-wives, a love of jazz and a valuable art collection.
Michael Gambon (the Harry Potter films, “Cranford”) is Johnny’s boss and oldest friend, a veteran of MI-5 who has spent a lifetime keeping secrets. Rachel Weisz (“The Constant Gardener”) plays Johnny’s across-the-hall neighbor, a younger woman who is dealing with her own grief.
Ralph Fiennes (“The English Patient”) portrays the Prime Minister. And Judy Davis (“Husbands and Wives”), is an ambitious colleague of Johnny’s who has joined with Downing Street in a rogue operation intent on shutting down Johnny’s search for the truth.
Written and directed by Hare (“The Hours”), the film airing under the “Masterpiece Contemporary” umbrella leaves viewers asking a few questions. Like a good jazz piece, it lingers in the mind. That’s not to say the ending isn’t satisfying (it is). But Hare just might be cueing us to imagine a particular epilogue.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
