South Africa, United States · 1994
Rated R · 1h 34m
Director Bruce Beresford
Starring Colin Friels, Sean Connery, John Lithgow, Diana Rigg
Genre Comedy, Drama
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Morgan Leafy is a secretary to the British High Commissioner to an Africa nation. Leafy is a man that makes himself useful to his boss, the snobbish Arthur Fanshawe, who has no clue about what's going on around him, but who wants to use his secretary to carry on his dirty work, which involves getting one of the most powerful men in the country to do business with his country.The young secretary has an eye for beautiful women around him, especially Hazel, a native beauty, with whom he is having an affair. Things get complicated because Sam Adekunle, a man running for president of the country, wants a favor from Leafy in return after he has accepted the invitation to visit London. The proposition involves swaying a prominent doctor's opposition to a plan that will make Adenkule filthy rich.
The imposing Sean Connery lends an undeserved dignity to A Good Man in Africa, an otherwise unpleasant and cringe-worthy cinematic botch of William Boyd's 1981 novel about the misadventures of British diplomats in a newly independent West African nation.
With its widely acclaimed source material and a cast of distinguished actors, A Good Man in Africa held the possibility of being a welcome departure from the ordinary. Instead, ordinary is what it rises to at its best.
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
The problem with the film is that it's frequently more tedious than funny.
Unforgivably terrible.
It stakes out Our Man in Havana territory in its ironic tone, but it's not nearly as humorous or as successful in delivering up a satisfying soupcon of caustic wit. Commercial prospects are tepid for what's essentially a shaggy dog story.
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Disappointingly tired, unfunny, and disengaged.
San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle
Connery's charm and integrity make all his scenes worthwhile, and Lithgow's stiff-backed turn as the classic British imperialist is in good fun.
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
Based on William Boyd's 1981 novel, the film has a touch of Evelyn Waugh — though the satire is served dry, it has still got a kick.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
I was not bored during A Good Man in Africa. Just uncomfortable, as the characters thrashed about in search of a purpose.
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