The Infiltrator

An interesting premise is ruined by the distraction of Oliver Platt's ethnicity. I'm not sure what Yaron Svoray really looks like, but there is NO WAY platt, in real life, could trick dozens of skinheads (which is highly unlikely in the first place) into letting him infiltrate the highest commands of neo-nazism just cause he's a nice guy!?

You think the KKK would allow Denzel Washington to join ranks?

My skepticism suggests though Yaron may have infiltrated a few skinhead gangs, the frolicking with elder Nazis and "kissing the lips of Hitler" bit was added for theatrical, aggrandizing purposes. I don't believe it.

Apparently that's the moral of this movie. The movie could have been an interesting depiction of a true story, but it isn't. Mainly coz the screenwriters and director have done such a messy (and in one instance, downright vulgar) job, that a child wont believe the ludicrous goings-on in this braindead movie. The guy meets his ethnic friends in broad daylight while working undercover as a proNazi. He tells the Nazis he represents rich people interested in the cause, and the Nazis believe him straight out without even asking for any credentials. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. All this is explained, in a not-so-subtle case of begging the question, by a dialogue about the Nazis which goes "These guys believe anything.. Greed has made them blind". Or shaving the head has made them stupid.

This is absolutely unbelievable! This is the story of a Jewish journalist who's assigned to a story in east Germany, and then is arrested, and somehow tricks skinheads into believing that he's a sympathiser. So the skinheads take him out for a drink, and shoot the hey with him for a while. Of course, although he's a foreigner, and skinheads' attitudes towards foreigners aren't as open-armed as they are in this film, I'm surprised that Yuron didn't get his jaw busted open against a sidewalk shortly after.

Anyhow, the next day, Yuron goes on to meet up with a few skin heads that he met the night before. There, they take him to a snuff-film. Of course, this scene's completely unnecessary and gutwrenching. As if even a few loose-knit skinhead gangs are to trust some dude they've met out of the bloom with something that can buy them life in the can or the chair!

Then Yuron goes to the police-station, and meets up with the hot officer-ette who busted him the other night, and tries to file a report. He tells her of what he saw, and of course, for some reasons unexplained, she refuses to file the report, but sympathises with Yuron so much she goes on a crusade to put these thugs behind bars.

Then the next memorable thing, is where Yuron goes to meet the granddaddy of the organisation, who insanely shoves a gun into his face, before they remove it. Of course, not realising that their elder may have some good advice, they allow Yuron to go unchecked from there on out, until some guy Mark Webber's mentioned of hearing about him.

My advice is to not waste your time... Unless you're a masochist.

I'm not sure why the other reviewer found the movie so hard to believe as it is a true story based off of Yaron Svoray's life and his book, "In Hitler's Shadow". Yaron is an undercover writer who was able to 'infiltrate' a Nazi party and have them believe he is writing to support their cause. Working with the Simon Wiesenthal Center they attempt to setup Nazis in order to give concrete proof to the German government that the groups exist and who their leaders are.

The acting was superb, and Oliver Platt, as usual, delivered a genuine performance. You truly felt for the characters in the movie. The movie did a great job of showing the Nazi influence in all levels of the public and government. They made it a point to show that not all Germans are Nazis with a few German citizens criticizing the Nazis in public. The movie shows the situation from all sides (Nazi, Jew, immigrants, etc) without trying to hide facts or issues.

There are several lessons to be learned from a well done movie like this, I wouldn't want to ruin it for everyone, see the movie, its well worth a rental.

after seeing the movie, I had a chance to read the book that the movie was based upon.

Of course no movie can reproduce a book perfectly; there just isn't time. But the basics of the film and the book match up-- the smoke screen magazine "The Right Way", the eager fake millionaire, the snuff film, Hitler's goblet, the rallies, befriending Nazi skinheads...

And while Oliver Platt doesn't look exactly like Yaron Svoray, he is as believable as an Aryan as Svoray.

the book, "In Hitler's Shadow" includes many photos of Svoray at Nazi rallies, hanging out with Skins, and has a picture of the "investor" with Hitler's valet.

So, unless the book itself is a complete fabrication of lies, the movie does a pretty good job of summing up the story.