Wrong Is Right (1982)

38% of critics liked it
(8 reviews)
38% of users liked it
(687 ratings)

Based on Charles McCarry's 1979 novel The Better Angels, Wrong is Right is set in a near future in which violence has become something of a national sport and television news has fallen to tabloid depths (a significantly bigger stretch in 1982, when the film was released.) Star Sean Connery plays… More Based on Charles McCarry's 1979 novel The Better Angels, Wrong is Right is set in a near future in which violence has become something of a national sport and television news has fallen to tabloid depths (a significantly bigger stretch in 1982, when the film was released.) Star Sean Connery plays Patrick Hale, a globe-trotting reporter with access to a staggering array of world leaders. As the film opens, he has ventured to the Arab country of Hegreb to interview his old acquaintance, King Ibn Awad (Ron Moody). Awad has learned that the President of the United States (George Grizzard) may have issued orders for his removal; as a result, Awad is apparently making arrangements to deliver two mini-nuclear devices -- each about the size of a small suitcase -- to a terrorist, with the intention of detonating them in Israel and the United States, unless the President resigns. In the intricate plot that unfolds, nothing is quite the way it seems, and Hale finds himself caught between political leaders, revolutionaries, CIA agents and other figures, trying to get to the bottom of it all. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 57 min.
Directed By: Richard Brooks I
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Apr 16, 1982 Wide
On DVD: Mar 16, 2004

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Wild proceedings are packed with convoluted intrigue.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
The star of Wrong Is Right is Sean Connery, giving the first uncertain performance of his otherwise exemplary career.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
The film is rather haphazard in its visual style and plotting, tallying up to a confused condemnation of our lack of morality.
, Time Out
Veering wildly between a quite well-written satire on the contemporary American political scene and a very ham-fisted nuclear blackmail thriller, its sheer eccentricity is quite engaging.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
as this film demonstrates, is it impossible to pursue a "right" course for America even if it's perceived as "wrong" by every other nation?
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Wrong Is Right is a cautionary tale about amorality.
, Film4
An almost prophetic comedy about political spin and the internecine battles between various intelligence agencies in the US.

Read all 7 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jim H

Without a doubt, one of the most prescient movies I've seen. Considering that it was made in the midst of the Cold War and it concerns oil crises and war in the Middle East, it is truly ahead of its times and right in the middle of ours. The performances are adequately hokey… More
Without a doubt, one of the most prescient movies I've seen. Considering that it was made in the midst of the Cold War and it concerns oil crises and war in the Middle East, it is truly ahead of its times and right in the middle of ours. The performances are adequately hokey for the genre of satire, but too over-the-top for my taste ... esp. the opening voice over. Good social criticism, worth the time.
Alice S

Most strangely prophetic movie I have ever seen. Truly horrific (funny at times) in its prescience.
Dean M

Average black comedy about the TV world.

Cast

            Sean Connery as Patrick Hale

            George Grizzard as President Lockwood

            Robert Conrad as Gen. Wombat

            Katharine Ross as Sally Blake

            G.D. Spradlin as Philandros

            John Saxon as Homer Hubbard

            Henry Silva as Rafeeq

            Leslie Nielsen as Mallory

            Robert Webber as Harvey

            Rosalind Cash as Mrs. Ford

            Hardy Kruger as Helmut Unger

            Dean Stockwell as Hacker

            Ron Moody as King Awad

            Cherie Michan as Erika

            Angelo Bertolini as Cardinal

            Ivy Bethune as Housewife

            Robert Alan Browne as Motorist

            Barry Cahill as Husband

            Art Evans
            
            David Frankham as British Reporter

            Teri Garr
            
            Mickey Jones as Gunman

            Paul Lambert as Defense Secretary

            Kiva Lawrence as Receptionist

            Jennifer Jason Leigh as Young Girl

            Tony March as Abu

            Keith McConnell as Smythe

            Tom McFadden as Billy Bob Harper

            Myron Natwick as Admiral

            George Skaff as Qadee

            Joe Whipp as John Brown

            Alexander Zale as Faheem

            Dayna O'Brien as President's Secretary

            Donald Bishop as Congressman

            Ken Gale
            
See full cast