All the Queen's Men

Matt LeBlanc leads a commando squad into Nazi Germany to steal a copy of the enigma machine. Co-starring Eddie "I'm an action transvestite" Izzard this was a long time coming to the US. I have no idea if it ever got a theatrical release, but I'm sure it it did it lost money. this isn't to say the movie is bad, its not really, its just too run of the mill, guys in dresses aside. What can I say this is a situation ripe with comedy that doesn't really hit enough comedic moments. To be sure the action is fine and the film making is good, the problem is its so by the numbers that I could wander in and out while it was on and not feel I was missing something. Its like Matt LeBlanc's character who almost completes every mission he's on, its almost a good movie, thats almost funny. Put downs aside its worth a look if you like World War 2 movies, especially ones that are more than a bit off beat (even while remaining completely run of the mill). That should confuse you completely.

This German-Austrian-Hungarian-USA co-production was directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky and stars Matt Leblanc. The premise was that British and American agents during the Second World War tried to infiltrate the espionage mechanism in Berlin by disguising themselves in drag, in order to steal a precious Enigma encoding and decoding machine from an all-female factory. That was plausible enough (the image of Leblanc in a frumpy "German lady" dress aside), but I didn't hold much hopes of coming out of the movie satisfied. Well, I was disappointed, but in a good way. This is a breezy, entertaining, light-hearted action flick. How could one not like Udo Kier as a perverted Nazi general? How could one not love Eddie Izzard as the British drag queen who teaches his team the ropes of hair, makeup, and frocks?

Izzard, mostly known as a standup comedian, turned in a bravura performance, starting out with a hilarious rendition of Marlene, and ending with deceptively spirited performance of imperialist German favorites, which completely fooled and kept Izzard's Nazi audience enrapt while the espionage mission climaxed, literally right behind the stage curtains.

This film seems to have been made for American tastes, judging by how much of the humor content is directed toward stereotypes of British fuddy-duddiness and arrogance. It also suffers from a few plot implausibilities. The sixtyish Archie (played by veteran British character actor, James Cosmo) is a beefy, mustachioed walrus of a man who, even after shaving his face, couldn't pass for a woman plausibly no matter if he was all dowdied up in a head scarf and a charwoman's dress. Polyglot math genius Johnno Johnson--played by David Birkin, who some of you might recognize from his role as a "young" Jean-Luc Picard in the Star Trek:TNG episode where a handful of Enterprise crew are suddenly turned into twelve-year-olds--was sent off on this mission instead of being kept on home turf, where his linguistic and cryptographic abilities would be much more valuable. And finally, the escape sequence at the end requires suspension of disbelief, quite literally.

Still, these flaws seem minor when compared to the overall entertainment value of the movie. Izzard's performance as a whole, Cosmo's endearing takes as a "grandmother" to a German war orphan, and Leblanc's hilarious seduction of Kier highlight an overall very enjoyable 105 minutes.

When I finally found this movie, I had been looking for it for quite some time. I have been a very big Eddie Izzard fan for a long time and also a FRIENDS fan, so it was definitely something I wanted to see. And I think it met my expectations. No it isn't an Oscar-worty movie or anything like that, but it is throughly enjoyable. It is the best thing aside from Friends that I've ever seen Matt Le Blanc in (I know that isn't saying a *lot*, but he does give a decent performance). The stand out as many people have said is obviously Eddie Izzard. The fact that he is a more polished comedian and since he is a transvestite in reality he seems pretty comfortable in the plot. He also has the best timing of them all. The only true complaint I have about this movie is that on the DVD in order to have subtitles for the few German lines you have to have the subtitles on the whole time, but that has nothing really to do with the movie as a whole. It isn't a movie that takes a lot of concentration to watch, but that isn't always bad. I really hate that so many people have written comments basically praising everyone in it and then calling the movie awful. There are some very touching scenes especially one between Izzard's character and his boyfriend who have been apart for a long time. So I would definitely recommend this movie to a friend.

** 1/2 stars out of four.

I have seen far worse movies than this one, which has far higher ratings. Don't believe the rating on this movie, it is a fun movie to watch.

Consider this as a low budge comedy, you are not watching it because of its intense actions, or serious historical stories, etc, just watch it to get entertained.

Some of the scenes were a little out of logic, obviously they can't do that in real life. The funniest line is the "be-sexual" scene.

Tony actually looks pretty womanlike, it was funny to see him in the black dress, and singing those German songs. Those songs sound pretty good, too.

I rate this movie 7, but since it has a low rating. Therefore, I am rating it 8 to increase its rating a little.

Brilliant I had bought this off HMV and after reading so many reviews I was expecting an awful movie but to my surprise it is brilliant. Eddie Izzard is fantastic in this movie. His relationship with Franz is brilliant you can sort of feel a connection. Matt LeBlanc is not too bad in this movie but I believe he could of done a much better job. David Birkin is fantastic. He really suited his character and portrayed him extremely well. Most of the reviews are comparing this movie to "Privates on parade" which is stupid. Privates on parade is an awful movie. I watch it as John Clesse was in it but he hardly said anything. This movie is nothing like Privates on Parade this movie is fantastic. I would recommend this movie to anyone who is an Eddie Izzard fan. His character in this movie is brilliant.