Glossy, preposterous but reasonably engaging political thriller, with a useful role for Mikhail Baryshniknov as a Soviet ballet star helped by US tap dancer Gregory Hines to escape back to the West. Contrived is hardly the word for it, and as so often you have plenty of time to wonder why the cinema couldn't find better uses for Helen Mirren, Geraldine Page and Isabella Rossellini, but sit back with your brain in neutral and it seems entertaining and even fun in its corny, old-fashioned sort of way. Impressive visuals, thanks to David Watkin's cinematography, and pretty tunes, two of which won Oscar nominations - Separate Lives and Say You, Say Me. The last won Best Song and is now deservedly a standard. The film's no threat to Hitchcock's reputation, though.

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