Synopsis
In this adaptation of the novel by Joseph Conrad, Mr. Verloc (Bob Hoskins) runs a shabby corner shop in London that serves as a front for his more profitable sideline, selling pornography. However, selling sex photos is not Verloc's main order of business; he is a member of an anarchist organization, and he holds meetings in his apartment where he and his fellows plot the violent overthrow of the government. Verloc does not actually share the beliefs of his fellows -- he is in fact a double agent working with the Russians to sabotage the actions of revolutionary exiles while passing information about the anarchists along to Police Inspector Heat (Jim Broadbent). Verloc is married to Winnie (Patricia Arquette), a pretty but dour young woman who doesn't care for her husband and has married only in hopes that she would be able to afford a decent home for her brother Stevie (Christian Bale), who is mentally retarded. Inspector Heat informs Verloc that the anarchists must commit some sort of major violent action soon if the police are ever going to put any of them behind bars, so Verloc persuades the Professor (Robin Williams) to help him plant some bombs, which leads to tragedy for everyone involved. Robin Williams appears unbilled in The Secret Agent; in some listings, his role is credited to George Spelvin.
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Movie News
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ROLE CALL: Secret Agent Banderas
HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 24, 2000 -- Get ready for Antonio Banderas' next assignment. The actor is in talks to star in the action movie "Ecks Vs. Sever," Daily Variety reports.
In the film, Banderas will play Ecks, a covert operative who has an archnemesis named Sever. The two agents must drop their in-fighting and unite to defeat a common enemy.
'DOWN' WITH HARTNETT: War makes heroes, and war flicks make huge movie stars. Josh Hartnett, who just finished shooting the WWII flick "Pearl Harbor," might star in another war project titled "Black Hawk Down," The Hollywood Reporter says. Based on Mark Bowden's 1999 nonfiction novel of the same name, the story is the true tale of the longest sustained battle involving U.S. troops since the Vietnam War.
QUEEN FOREVER: Add one more perk to being the queen of a famous, annual parade: The Reporter says that Sophia Bush, the 2000 Ros
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Janet Jackson: Secret Agent Wife!
HOLLYWOOD, May 31, 2000 -- The CIA's got nothing on Janet Jackson. That woman can keep a secret. Remember last year when the superstar popster announced that she was ending her 13-year-long "personal relationship" with collaborator Rene Elizondo? What she didn't mention was that Elizondo was also her husband.
How'd we learn about this little item? The old-fashioned way -- by reading that Elizondo filed for divorce today, ending a marriage we didn't even know existed.
Like we said, that Janet Jackson is good.
According to Elizondo's paperwork, the two wed in March 1991 at their home San Diego-area home. They separated in January 1999. And, rest assured, Elizondo says, they have no secret children.
In the divorce petition, Elizondo says the marriage was deep-sixed by the ol' "irreconcilable differences." (He thought they were married; she didn't?)
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