Synopsis
A burned-out British police detective finally snaps while interrogating a suspected child molester.
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Cast
- Sean ConneryDetective Sergeant Johnson
- Trevor HowardLieutenant Cartwright, Detective Superintendant
- Vivien MerchantMaureen Johnson
- Ian BannenKenneth Baxter
- Peter BowlesDetective Inspector Cameron
- Derek NewarkFrank Jessard
- Ronald RaddLawson
- John HallamPanton
- Anthony SagarHill
- Maxine GordonJanie
Recommendations
- 80
CineVue
The Offence is almost the definition of murk, unrelenting and unforgiving. - 80
The Guardian
The atmosphere and performances are sustained at a terrifying pitch, and the movie ends suddenly, leaving the audience to deal with the ideas and emotions aroused. - 80
Los Angeles Times
A splendid, unjustly neglected 1973 British film in which Sean Connery, at his very best under Sidney Lumet's direction, plays a veteran police sergeant haunted by years of contact with terrible crimes and on the brink of a total breakdown. [27 May 1990, p.10] - 75
Slant Magazine
Few genre films come as close to entering the abyss as Sidney Lumet’s The Offence, which effectively plays out as one elongated interrogation both of a single witness and the tortured psyche of Sergeant Johnson (Sean Connery). - 70
The New York Times
The revelations explode predictably, like the ingredients of a 24-hour cold capsule, but the dramatic impact is real while one is watching it. - 60
Variety
There's a powerful confrontation of authority and accused between police sergeant Sean Connery and suspected child molester Ian Bannen in Sidney Lumet's The Offence. A brilliant scene, however, does not in itself make for a brilliant overall feature. - 60
TV Guide Magazine
A powerful and complex performance by Connery is somewhat weakened by Lumet's typically stiff and stagey direction, which tends to sap the life out of the film. - 50
IndieWire
An interesting but not entirely rewarding inversion on Lumet’s continued study of law enforcement.
