Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)

Good start, but loses its steam, 11 April 2020

Recently widowed empty-nester Mrs. Pollifax (Rosalind Russell) needs something to do and decides to seek gainful employment.  So, she marches into the CIA and offers her services as a spy. Being an unassuming, older woman, one of the CIA bigwigs thinks she’s perfect for simple courier missions.  But when her first assignment to Mexico goes horribly wrong, Mrs. Pollifax finds herself in a world of trouble inside an Albaian prison.  

Mrs. Pollifax-Spy isn’t a bad movie by any means, it’s just that it’s not very good either.  One of my main issues is the pacing. The film gets off to a fantastic start, complete with vibrant, interesting Mexican locations.  These scenes have a real sense of fun and life to them. But, things change dramatically once Mrs. Pollifax finds herself in Albania. The pace slows to a crawl and it seems to take forever for much of anything to happen.  Plus, the Albanian scenes are just so drab looking. I never knew there were that many shades of brown.  

Russell’s on-screen pairing with Darren McGavin took a while to grow on me.  I”ve never seen him as the leading man type. But by the end, I was on board with their relationship.  I suppose that is one bright spot from the movie’s second half.  

5/10