The Second Front (2005)
In the midst of World War 2, intelligence services from England, Germany and Russia collided in a fierce fight for the mind of Nicky Raus, a genius German Jewish scientist who's developing a weapon of tremendous power. An American agent, Frank Hossom, enters the game when German agents undertake a daring operation stealing the scientist. Frank has to get the scientist back - dead or alive. His mission is complicated by his developing relationship with Olga Ryabina, Nicky's lover, an actress forced to work for KGB. The love triangle and the international intrigue weave into a deadly net.
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Touches You
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Beautiful, moving film.
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
The year is 1942, and Nicky Raus, a German Jew of extraordinary intelligence, is subject to a complex plot to steal the plans for a weapon of immense power. An American agent teams up with British agents to protect Raus and his secret weapon from German and Russian forces. Meanwhile, the American falls in love with Raus' girlfriend, a Russian agent and movie star. What fate lies in store for the unfortunate scientist? What fate indeed? From the start, the movie is a tad bit silly, to say the least. What would Nazis want with a Jew, other than to kill him? What is his secret weapon? When will the movie end? Bad acting frequents many movies, with no exception here. However, more distracting are other features of this film: planes that seem too advanced, weapons that seem to change in appearance from frame to frame, cheesy getups, runways in the middle of no-where, people's voices that do not sound properly synched (or voiced over, depending on the case). But if you can ignore such distractions and some acting of no high quality, you may come from the movie entertained. However, don't be mislead by the cover of the DVD--"You can't judge a book by its cover..." Instead of tanks with weapons blasting, bombs exploding, and airplanes strafing, you get spies, small skirmishes, and fisticuffs. I must say I was disappointed when half of the cover art wasn't even in the movie in any way, but after reading the summary on the back, what could I have expected? Also on the negative side, there are no features besides the movie itself, a few trailers, and Spanish subtitles. Maybe some outtakes or interviews would have been appropriate, or maybe the creators and/or actors were ashamed to have partaken in such a film.I would give it an "A" for effort, but the fallacies or errors in the movie distracted me too much to extract any great entertainment. I might suggest renting the movie for one night if you are bored, but you should NOT buy it, unless you enjoy buying pitiful films. I give it a 5 for effort and because I would feel bad if I were to give it a lower score.
The first thing you must do if you want to enjoy this movie is convince yourself that the notion that Nazi Germany would go to any lengths to capture and utilize a Jew for his intelligence is not utterly preposterous. If you are able to convince yourself of that, and you haven't seen movies like Enigma which would allow you to see through the thin plot, then you might enjoy this film. What the film makers failed to understand is basic Nazi ideology and doctrine, which shaped Germany's policies from 1933 to early 1945. Nazi ideology would not permit the belief that a Jew could be more intelligent than Aryan scientists, nor that a Jew could be an asset to the purposes of the Reich. I have to say that I had high hopes for this one when I ran across it at Hollywood Video, but I was thoroughly disappointed.
OK. Who's in this? Craig Sheffer? I'm sorry, but looking though his filmography, I didn't see anything memorable in which I'd seen him perform. The rest of the cast are Internationals and that's certainly forgivable but, the question I raise is why was Ron Perlman in this less than outstanding film? And, as a sadistic Nazi at that? No, sport's fans, it certainly didn't work for me and although I didn't have quite the same reaction as the first reviewer, I was glad I'd rented this one at Blockbuster's (on the night of the Superbowl because I was likely one of the few in Sacramento watching the poor old Seahawks get their lunch) instead of investing the price of a Senior's admission to see it on the wide screen. Very disappointing, Ron. Better stick to Hellboy.
Nobody involved in this rubbish should ever be allowed to work in the industry again! The plot is ridiculous from the start and so many holes appear in the telling of the story that you have to remind yourself that these people are serious and are not trying to make you laugh. The idea that some of the "actors" were paid for this is the one laughable thing about the movie. The director should be Allan Smithee, as Dmitri Fiks (if that is his real name) should be ashamed for the waste of money he is responsible for. Retire Dmitri, retire! Why oh why are talentless clowns like these people given access to finance to make unredeemable crap like this!