Sean Connery gives arguably the best performance of his career in this dark and exceptionally disturbing thriller from director Sidney Lumet (with whom the big Scot had already made The Hill and The Anderson Tapes). The Offence was a box office bomb, not because it is a hopelessly weak film but because the grim subject matter and the relentlessly bleak tone were too challenging for general audiences. You don't go to see a film like this if you're seeking jolly weekend entertainment. If, however, you're looking for a serious film which deals with powerful themes with unflinching courage, then The Offence is certainly close to the mark. It is a rather hard film to watch, and is definitely not a film that encourages repeat viewings, but there's no denying Connery's mesmerising presence nor the horrifying, probing nature of the story.
London cop Detective Sergeant Johnson (Sean Connery) has spent his career dealing with gruesome crimes and squalid criminal characters. He balances the mental drain of his work by shutting out from his private life the terrible things he has seen. However, the discovery of a young girl (Maxine Gordon) who has been sexually abused pushes him over the edge. The main suspect in the case, Baxter (Ian Bannen), is brought in for questioning. But during the interrogation D.S. Johnson is so overwhelmed by anger and revulsion (linked both to the actual molestation case and all the deplorable crimes he has worked on previously) that in frustration he attempts to beat a confession out of the suspect. Johnson so over-does the beating that Baxter dies, and the cop finds himself under the scrutiny of an internal enquiry headed by Lieutenant Cartwright (Trevor Howard).
Throughout the film the acting is superlative. Connery is fabulous as the tormented detective (many feel he should have won an Oscar for this role, rather than The Untouchables, though perhaps The Offence was not a "big" enough release to be viewed as serious Oscar material). Bannen as the suspected child molester is totally convincing; Vivian Merchant as Connery's absurdly nonchalant wife is outstanding (especially in the scene where her husband describes to her the horrors he has seen in stomach-churning detail); and Trevor Howard is his usual powerful self as the enquiry-head who has to draw difficult conclusions about the cop's violent conduct. The Offence is gritty, hard-hitting cinema for those who want to go there. Few will find it an enjoyable experience, but that was never the film's intention anyway.... the idea here is to be taken well beyond one's comfort zone, and in that respect the film hits its goal.
London cop Detective Sergeant Johnson (Sean Connery) has spent his career dealing with gruesome crimes and squalid criminal characters. He balances the mental drain of his work by shutting out from his private life the terrible things he has seen. However, the discovery of a young girl (Maxine Gordon) who has been sexually abused pushes him over the edge. The main suspect in the case, Baxter (Ian Bannen), is brought in for questioning. But during the interrogation D.S. Johnson is so overwhelmed by anger and revulsion (linked both to the actual molestation case and all the deplorable crimes he has worked on previously) that in frustration he attempts to beat a confession out of the suspect. Johnson so over-does the beating that Baxter dies, and the cop finds himself under the scrutiny of an internal enquiry headed by Lieutenant Cartwright (Trevor Howard).
Throughout the film the acting is superlative. Connery is fabulous as the tormented detective (many feel he should have won an Oscar for this role, rather than The Untouchables, though perhaps The Offence was not a "big" enough release to be viewed as serious Oscar material). Bannen as the suspected child molester is totally convincing; Vivian Merchant as Connery's absurdly nonchalant wife is outstanding (especially in the scene where her husband describes to her the horrors he has seen in stomach-churning detail); and Trevor Howard is his usual powerful self as the enquiry-head who has to draw difficult conclusions about the cop's violent conduct. The Offence is gritty, hard-hitting cinema for those who want to go there. Few will find it an enjoyable experience, but that was never the film's intention anyway.... the idea here is to be taken well beyond one's comfort zone, and in that respect the film hits its goal.