We meet babe, (dustin hoffman) ,who has all sorts of frustrations bottled up inside. Babe's brother (Roy Scheider) works for the government, for a sort of shadowy agency that handles the dirty jobs the CIA and the FBI won't touch. One day he gets killed. A man claiming to be one of the brother's fellow operatives comes to Babe and says he needs help in setting a trap.
He s involved in An Intrigue that involves a former Nazi named Szell, a former Nazi Killer during the war who has a relationship with the secret US agency, or at least at various points we're told he does, and he s afraid of someone stealing his diamonds.
roy scheider is great here although he s of secondary role here, dustin hoffman looks great when he s vulnerable, that s how great an actor he is, the direction is downright superb here, the 2h 12 min film never sizzles with excitement and intrigue, you feel like u live in new york city, that s the beauty of these 70s and 80s films, they brim with quality and immersion.
all in all, i really enjoyed this one and a big recommendation to whom who haven t seen it.