A HAT-TRICK OF SUPPORTING PERFORMANCES
GARNERING just as much mirth as Blackbird’s toe-curling oneliners and clichéd plotting is the array of rakishly angled hats sported by super-duper secret agent protagonist Victor Blackley.
At the graveside of his wife – killed by a troop of vaguely motived terrorists – Blackley’s dramatically tilted black trilby ensures his already heavy head won’t be further weighed down by rainwater. A sudden gust of wind, though, and he’d be chasing it through the cemetery.
Retiring to the Caribbean after this tragedy, Blackley adapts his headgear to suit the surroundings. Enter an angled panama hat, which pairs just as fetchingly with a white tuxedo as with rolled-up chinos and chest-baring shirt for a stroll on the sand.
Elsewhere, slanted fedoras come and go at such angles they could guide bar staff learning to pull a pint of Guinness.
Fond of an angled hat in real life, perhaps Flatley has allowed too much of the actor/writer/ director into his lead character.
But what better way for a secret agent to remain inconspicuous than to always sport a distinctively cocked hat?