The Honorary Consul (released in the US as Beyond The Limit) is a 1983 British drama film directed by John Mackenzie, and starring Michael Caine, Richard Gere, Bob Hoskins and Elpidia Carrillo.

As a boy, he was forced to flee his native Paraguay after the arrest and subsequent disappearance of his father, a dissident.

Plarr makes the acquaintance of the dissolute and heavy-drinking Charley Fortnum, the honorary British consul.

The two men try to persuade Plarr to help in a plot to kidnap the American ambassador, who is due to visit the district, and to exchange him for political prisoners held in Paraguay.

He determines that the patient is in no danger from the morphine, but informs Leon that the person they kidnapped is not the American ambassador: he is Fortnum, the British consul.

Despite Plarr warning the dissidents that Fortnum has no value to the authorities, the group proceed with their demand for the release of ten political prisoners.

Plarr travels to Buenos Aires in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the British ambassador to intervene.

Plarr is again summoned to the shack, this time to treat Fortnum for a gunshot wound sustained while trying to flee from a latrine.

[3] The staff of Variety wrote that "strong talents on both sides of the camera haven’t managed to breathe life into this intricate tale of emotional and political betrayal and [the] result is a steady dose of tedium.

"[6] Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote of "the grossly meaningless title that has been attached—like a bathtub to a car—to the screen adaptation of The Honorary Consul, Mr. Greene's 1973 novel",[a] and praised some of the performances and the location shooting, yet remarked that "With the best of intentions and no little talent, John Mackenzie, the director, and Christopher Hampton, the writer, have made a movie that in some respects becomes an unkind criticism of the novel.