Viewers who buy this DVD will undoubtedly feel they've been sold out, but the movie is interesting nonetheless -- for all the wrong reasons: The Israeli locations, like the photography itself, are starkly unappealing and totally unattractive. Yet, for all that, they do hold the interest. The stars, on the other hand, are likewise deglamorized, but here the effects are repulsive rather than captivating. Widmark looks absolutely haggard in some of his close-ups, while Gayne Hunnicutt looks garishly sinister with her mouth full of sharp, crooked teeth. As for Reed, he presents as an overweight, chunky slob. The script places a juvenile emphasis on car chases and destruction for destruction's sake. True, these sequences are excitingly staged if you're in the mood for them, but the plot on which all this depends comes across as an unbelievable mishmash of spies versus spies. The direction is sometimes effective in the way it utilizes real locations. At other times, however, it's just TV routine. And yet there are a few odd occasions in which it's experimental. Yes, often clumsily made, yet at other times quite skillful, this movie's hold on the viewer is often tenuous and tedious, yet sometimes quite exciting.
Review of The Sell-Out
