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Black Book (2006)
5/10
46 minutes in, noticed about 7 errors in film-making
4 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
(1) In the very beginning, as the two women talk through the window, the German language in which they are speaking seems to have some English wording thrown in: "You suddenly got religion." ?? Does this foreshadow that the two women were previously ladies of the night?

(2) A fleeing Jewish lady on a barge is wearing her weighted-down jewels that look like they are worth millions, prominently displayed on her bare neck, with no attempt to keep them under cover.

(3) As the machine-gunning of the barge is going on, the leading lady of the movie shows no panic on her face, just a bit of amazement and stands right up to help out a man who had previously helped her because he was hit, even though her whole family is next to her and being shot at, too. She looks around as if she is concerned about a sick pet rather than everyone she loves being massacred.

(4) Not unusual in many films, but one of the next scenes---supposedly with pouring rain---includes sun streaming across the road and the grass.

(5) As the leading lady is hiding and escaping over a period of a few days, her eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow, blush and lipstick don't alter even though she has lost all her worldly goods; on the contrary, all remains in place as at the moment she stepped away from the film's makeup artist. In a later scene, after she was cooped up (hiding) in a casket and had rain pour on her when the Germans insisted the casket be opened up, she eventually emerges without a drop on her lovely gown. How did the rain dry off inside that almost airless environment? Further makeup oddities: 5 months later as she is working the grind at a fish cutting plant, her beautiful makeup job is still in place as if she is ready for opening night at a Broadway play.

(6) In a scene involving about 7 Germans with machine guns bursting into a warehouse, a resister singlehandedly takes them all out using, first, a machine gun, then he puts that down to switch to a pistol, then back to a machine gun, but none of the Germans took him out. Amazing.

(7) In one of the next scenes, a truck crashes into a building and a group of employees at a desk not too far away from the wall where the truck crashed haven't noticed and have to be informed about the crash because they are still standing up at a desk together studying some paperwork.

And this is all in the first 45 minutes.

Film is saved, finally, by the acting of Sebastian Koch. All who were involved in the endeavor should get down on their knees in thanks that his acting and appeal came to the rescue; that is the only way I figure this film was ever considered for any awards.
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9/10
Didn't want to fast forward through ANY of this movie
11 August 2007
Choose "The Darwin Awards" if you want a relaxing afternoon or evening watching a fun film with enough laughs to make you walk away satisfied. Looking at my IMDb ID, "fastforwardaddict," you would surmise correctly that I have no patience for lame or poorly constructed movies. I fastforward through everything that is subpar. If the writing and/or the acting are bad, the DVD goes right back into the Netflix or Blockbuster sleeve. Favorite movies of mine include those that are considered by such critics as Leonard Maltin to be four star rated. I say all this because when this came out in the theatres, I read newspaper and magazine reviews that made it seem like a dud. Seems rather fishy now, because I watched this with a male who is also very hard to please and we both liked it. At the end, he said, "You picked a winner this time." One criticism I read was that there was no chemistry between Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder. First of all, the movie was about Fiennes truly irritating the h... out of Ryder. Haven't you ever worked with someone who drove you nuts? Well, Fiennes couldn't have played this more perfectly. I've known characters like this and he is right on the money. I also knew a character just like the one he played in "Forever Mine" and he was right on the money there, too. His facial expressions are enough in so many instances, he doesn't even have to talk. His stiff body language was absolutely suited to the character he was playing. Ryder was excellent as his co-worker. Why do you think she survived her legal and public relations' problems? Because she is a very good actress. As for the chemistry between them, that is subjective; I sensed it.

Most of the Darwin situations, i.e., what the nutty victims did, were priceless, particularly the fellow who attached the missile to his car. The actors who played the husband and wife who were nearby made those characters very believable.

The comedic writing was good. The quips between Fiennes and Ryder were great! I hardly ever watch a movie twice, but I would watch this one again just to hear them go at each other, and to watch with even more of my friends and relatives to share the lighthearted fun. Sarcastic but cute give and take in a conversation is not easy to write, but the writers succeeded here.

Fiennes's range is wide: all the way from well-acted serious films such as "Luther" and particularly, "Leo," to this light and happy, very good-for-a-Saturday-afternoon provider of laughs.
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