Movie Review #2974
Another Nazi-hunt tale, this time featuring old Georg von Trappe himself (Christopher Plummer) as Zev, an Auschwitz survivor suffering from dementia & barely in control of his faculties & the inimitable Martin Landau (Mission Impossible anyone?), his friend Max. Max is also an ex-Auschwitz resident, wheelchair-bound but still pursuing retribution against those responsible for his & Zev's families' deaths in the camp. Unable to pursue himself, Max constructs an elaborate paint-by-numbers plan that sees Zev escape from their retirement home & embark upon a cross country excursion to track down the main perpetrator, now living in the US under an assumed identity. Zev encounters all sorts of characters & obstacles along the way including an anti-Semitic cop, various small children, a stint in hospital, the Canadian border & other WWII veterans before cornering his quarry in a remote part of Lake Tahoe. It's at this point the story elevates beyond the norm with a twist bigger than The Sixth Sense & the sudden realisation that things are not quite what they seem. Messrs Plummer & Landau are brilliant as the old geriatrics playing out rectitude in spite of their years with a superb supporting cast including Jurgen Prochnow as the hunted & provider of a few surprises. Whilst not a thriller as such, the anticipation of 90yr old Zev actually being able to reach his & Max's goal kept me on the edge of my seat in a very strange manner that also had me completely estranged from the eventuality. Awesome movie, well-acted (especially the aforementioned Capt von Trappe) & a fabulous screenplay that keeps you totally engaged then reeling at the final. Don't think I've ever done this but it's a 10/10.
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Geoff HorneI'm a movie nut from way back with my first ever being The Hallelujah Trail from 1964. Ever since, I've been mesmerized by the giant screen, and the darkness that went on forever. Despite the infernally uncomfortable seats, (plus having to stand for God Save the Queen), I've been enticed ever since to duck into a theatre whenever I can for a few hours of escapism. Archives
July 2022
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