Ouragan sur l'eau plate

SYNOPSIS

One of the disasters that sank the British film company HandMade, Water stars Michael Caine as a British diplomat on a West Indian island awash with Communist insurrection and Americans dredging mineral water - a kind of sparkling Castreau? Intended as a satire on the Falklands and Grenada, it falls flat in all departments, mainly because co-writers Dick Clement (who also directs) and Ian La Frenais couldn't sustain a narrative over their usual 30-minute sitcom ration. Valerie Perrine and Brenda Vaccaro are irritating, Billy Connolly embarrassing and Maureen Lipman sadly miscast as a Mrs Thatcher figure. Only the marvellous Leonard Rossiter raises a smile.