tim-downie

The only weak aspect of this film is that the central idea is just not quite believable (albeit easily more believable than most mainstream films). Everything else was quite brilliant. There are plenty of films about Jews in Nazi Germany and a good few films set in the aftermath of world war 2. This is however the first film I have seen exploring the lives and emotions of Jews in post war Germany trying to reclaim their lost monies and contemplating where to spend their future lives. In this respect the film portrays two opposing views very powerfully. The acting, screen play, cinematography and direction is superb. I predicted aspects of the climax but the subtleties were a surprise (no spoilers here). Two of the three main roles are played by women, are strong characters and passes the Bechdel Test with in the first few minutes.

This film took the idea a set of one-joke adverts featuring Rowan Atkinson for a British credit card. Predictably the film seems like a sequence of one joke adverts stitched together. The comedy is of poor quality far worse than most of Atkinson's work. Forget Blackadder and forget Not the Nine O'clock News and even the Tall Guy. This takes the worst bits of Mr Bean and the worst bits of the Thin Blue Line. Poor script and weak slapstick jokes. I think that Atkinson is a great comedian, but this film is a big disservice to him and all the Film's actors.

This kind of film is always going to be a difficult to pull off. It is a parody of a James Bond film, but James Bond films are a self-parody.