A resourceful German Spy (Donald Sutherland) in England called the Needle (he dispenses enemies with a stiletto) learns that the Allies have set up a phony D-Day invasion in order to deceive the Nazis. He heads for a rendezvous with a German submarine. On a small island off the coast of Scotland, he intrudes upon the retreat of David (Christopher Cazenove) and Lucy (Kate Nelligan) and their four-year-old son. David is a legless sheep rancher who abandoned sexual relations with his wife after an auto accident ended his career in the British Air Force. The Needle beds her but, when she realizes who he is, the war comes down to a one-on-one combat. This screen adaptation of Ken Follett's best-selling novel is gripping. Kate Nelligan (the star of Masterpiece Theatre's "Therese Raquin") again shows why the accolades given her acting are well deserved.