Μύ Very much a minor entry to the Eastwood canon and certainly one of his most lacklustre and conventional directorial efforts, "The Eiger Sanction" concerns professional-assassin-turned-art-teacher Jonathan Hemlock (Eastwood), who is coaxed out of retirement by a hefty fee that will further his collection of art masterpieces. After performing the job however, Hemlock is blackmailed by his paymasters into unmasking an enemy agent who is part of a climbing party attempting to scale the formidable Eiger Mountain. Aided by old friend Ben Bowman (Kennedy), Hemlock sets about the perilous task.
Hastily adapted from Trevanian's best-selling novel, "The Eiger Sanction" was little more than an attempt to consolidate Eastwood's box office status. A predictable rehash of action genre clichΓ©s and weighed down by Eastwood's central miscasting, the film's only interest lies is the impressive panoramic action sequences which still just about pass muster, if only for the skill with which they are staged and their evident authenticity (Eastwood allegedly performed all his own stunts).
Despite the vertigo-inducing Eiger sequences, the film is curiously flat and uninvolving with little in the way of characterisation or exposition. Eastwood's despatch of a caricatured homosexual character leaves a particularly nasty taste in the mouth, a stereotype symptomatic of how poorly the film has dated. Preferable, perhaps, to "Cliffhanger", but really for Clint completists only.
"The Eiger Sanction" is on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ1 at 10.55pm, Sunday 11th February 2001.
