The Next Man (1976)

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

The remarkable thing about this movie is that it was fully conceived, filmed, and released *before* Anwar Sadat and the Camp David Accords, and, in its own way, echoes the events in its own future. If you are too young to remember these events, then I recommend you look it up in Wikipedia... Then realize that this movie did not follow that history, it preceded it.Not much should be expected of the movie, it is a definite B-movie from Connery's lower-rent period, when he did a lot of doubtful pictures following his "Never Again" appearance in "Diamonds Are Forever", and before his talent, so evident in his early, pre-Bond pictures, was re-recognized by critics and fans alike.It is a decent and effective, if not surprising picture, and Connery himself does an effective job as an Arab leader seeking to end the strife with Israel, against substantial political opposition. At the time, the whole idea of it seemed preposterously far in the future, but in reality, the Camp David Accords were less than 4 years away.

Sean Connery has to be admired for refusing to allow his box office reputation to dictate the film roles that he has chosen over the years. Many stars accept the scripts that they believe will result in financially successful films. While Connery has made more than his fair share of box office hits, he has also been in quite a few films that did not do huge business during their cinematic run. Connery's attitude has always been that he chooses roles that INTEREST him; perhaps roles that he finds challenging as an actor, or roles that require a certain amount of emotional depth and research. In The Next Man, a 1976 thriller from director Richard C. Sarafian, Connery assumes the unlikely but effective role of a Saudi Arabian statesman with a revolutionary political idea that places his life in grave danger. The film itself is nothing special, being a pedestrian-paced political thriller with a double-edged romantic subplot, but what is fascinating is watching big Sean playing this visionary idealist with such aplomb. It is a shame that the actor and the character were not given a more interesting film in which to appear!Following three assassinations of Middle Eastern politicians, Khalil Abdul Muhsen (Sean Connery) is appointed by the Saudi Arabian king as the country's ambassador to the United Nations. Muhsen soon has many an Arab heart skipping a beat as he makes a stirring speech to the UN assembly, outlining his revolutionary plan to forge a co-operative agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel in the production of petroleum. Formerly bitter enemies, Muhsen envisages that the Saudis and the Israelis will unite and create an oil-producing alliance capable of replacing OPEC. His optimistic ideas are met with great opposition from some quarters of the Arab community and it is not long before Muhsen's life is in jeopardy. Little does he realise that a gorgeous female assassin has been placed on his trail with instructions to seduce then eliminate him. The assassin, Nicole Scott (Cornelia Sharpe), captures the heart of the Arabian statesman and allows him to romance her as she waits for the order to erase him. But gradually she seems to fall in love with her target…. when the time comes, will she follow her professional orders or her heart? Little suspense is generated regarding the dilemma facing Sharpe's character. Although Muhsen is perfectly likable, especially as portrayed by Connery, not enough is made of the relationship between politician and assassin to generate the necessary sympathies. In the closing scenes, when Sharpe may or may not be about to kill her man, there is no particular level of interest or excitement. The film is quite a globe-trotting affair, with various exotic locales nicely lensed by the ever-reliable Michael Chapman. The script (worked on by four collaborators) jumps around somewhat messily, especially in the early stages, but Richard C. Sarafian manages to keep the plot just about understandable. However, it is important to note that the film exists in a couple of severely edited versions known as Double Hit and The Arab Conspiracy, both of which are so clumsily shortened that they are all but impossible to follow. If you are planning on watching this film at all, at least pay it the service of seeing the full length version which, while not without its flaws, is at least half-decent.

(Spoilers ahead) "The Next Man" is a mildly entertaining if totally unlikely story with Sean Connery as a Saudi Arabian emissary to the UN who threatens to disband OPEC and seek peace with Israel. Understandably, he becomes the subject of assassination attempts. Cornelia Sharpe, looking like a photocopy of Faye Dunaway, is an undercover agent who, like a spider, uses sex as a preliminary to devouring her mate. In an early scene she coolly allows Adolfi Celi to suffocate to death with a plastic bag tied around his head while she blithely takes a shower. She, of course, falls seriously in love with Connery and goes through pangs of conscience before doing him in at point-blank rage at the end. Had the film dealt more seriously with the political and dramatic issues at hand, a la Costa Gavras, it could have been much better and not nearly so preposterous. Richard C. Sarafian directed the less-than-brilliant concoction.

SPOILERS! IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH THIS TURKEY, BEWARE!Sean Connery had been on an incredible 'roll', beginning with the all-star 'whodunit', MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, in 1974. A so-so suspense film (twenty years ahead of it's time) about airline terrorism, RANSOM, followed, then THE WIND AND THE LION, THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, and ROBIN AND MARIAN, in rapid succession. Three 'classics' in a row, and the international press were hailing Connery as the world's greatest actor, a gratifying title to an actor many claimed would be 'typecast' forever as James Bond, just four years earlier.Then came THE NEXT MAN, ending the string of hits...THE NEXT MAN wasn't the worst movie Connery would ever make (I'd nominate THE AVENGERS for that honor, though METEOR also has it's supporters), but the story, of a professional 'hit woman' who seduces her victims into falling in love with her before she 'offs' them, just wasn't of a caliber of his previous work, and sparked snide comments that the Scot actor would do "anything for money".The film's star, Cornelia Sharpe, was an attractive actress of average talent, better known for her nude pictorials in Playboy than for her film work. As a cold-blooded assassin, she was only truly effective in the early part of the film, strangling Adolfo Celi (best known as 'Emilio Largo' in THUNDERBALL) with a plastic bag, in a rather distasteful sequence.Her next 'assignment' would be Arab diplomat Khalil Abdul-Muhsen (Connery), whose peace overtures towards Israel were alarming radical Arab leaders. She takes on the job methodically, winning his confidence with off-handed ease, and beginning her standard seduction.But Connery is funny, charismatic, and a visionary, exuding his trademark sex appeal so effortlessly that the film becomes a full-fledged love story, with montages so blatantly romantic that they might have been 'lifted' from LOVE STORY, itself (watch for an ice-skating sequence; Connery skates VERY well!)The film climaxes as Connery delivers an decisive speech at the U.N. about the need for brotherhood between peoples, a scene so powerful that you wonder why it is in THIS film...then she poisons him, whispering about his "beautiful eyes" as he dies, leaving audiences feeling totally flattened. Even a twist at the end of the film, promising justice would be served, couldn't make up for the letdown of Connery's death, even if it should have been expected.The film bombed, and was quickly pulled from theaters. Fortunately, Sean Connery's next film, A BRIDGE TOO FAR, about WWII's Operation Market-Garden, would offer one of his best performances, and THE NEXT MAN misfire would soon be forgotten. The same could not be said for Cornelia Sharpe, however; her career quickly evaporated, with only a handful of roles in the nearly thirty years since THE NEXT MAN was released. This is one Connery film you MAY want to skip!