A Very British Coup (1988)

(England, U.S.A.; roughly contemporary)
Superb political thriller concerns a newly elected Labour Prime Minister (Ray McAnally), whose radical plans for socialistic reforms are opposed by a consortium of interests including the U.S. President and a Rupert Murdoch type media baron. Subtlety at first, this opposing consortium attempts to sabotage Prime Minister Harry Perkins administration through a sex scandal involving his Foreign Secretary and a manufactured energy crises. When Harry manages to handle these crises, the attacks get more personal and could threaten a women from his past.

Perkins is a sort of idealized fighting liberal, who even looks a little like fellow union organizer Lech Walesa. Here we have what is really an exciting ‘political’ thriller, meaning its focused on maneuvering over explosions. It’s plot logic concerning the domination of business and ‘security interests’ was not quite so old hat when this was made, and in fact the late cold-war setting reinvigorated them for me. I highly recommend this for three hours of your time.