Nionde kompaniet

Starting small, with the unauthorised swap of a car engine, a group of friends build up a business reallocating military resources to local villagers. The business grows, as does the number of people involved and the level of audacity.

A very large cast sometimes left me trying to work out who was who, and some of the acting left me unclear of characters' motives. A couple of scenes implied things had happened that we had not seen - either poor continuity or budget shortcuts - but the story is a happy romp.

A couple of questions unresolved for me involved a character having male pin-ups and the surname Rosencrantz - I wasn't sure if he was intended to be gay or Jewish, or whether either was supposed to be relevant to the plot. To me, neither made a difference to the plot but were a slight distraction as I wondered why the hints were there.

The climax builds nicely, although again some weak editing. The scale of the final project is breathtaking, reminiscent of Milo Minderbinder in Catch-22, and suggests where most of the budget went.

The ending might disappoint some, but give others a guilty giggle. For me it changed the overall tone, although it was certainly no surprise.