Saturday, November 12, 2016

The Boys from Brazil (1978)


IMDb plot summary: A Nazi hunter in Paraguay discovers a sinister and bizarre plot to rekindle the Third Reich.
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Starring Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason, and Lilli Palmer.

(Mild spoilers ahead.)

This movie is so bizarre. It sets itself up as a serious dramatic thriller about an attempted resurgence of the Nazis in the 80s, starring all these esteemed classic actors, and then it takes an abruptly silly sci-fi turn and all I could think was, "What are these people doing in this movie?" The fact that it plays it so serious the first half of the movie makes the second half seem insensitive and out of place, and Gregory Peck seems to be aware of it, as he reaches Nicolas Cage levels of bizarre acting in the final scenes with his character. Not a very good movie, but kind of intriguing in a head-scratching way.

1.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Boys From Brazil < National Treasure: Book of Secrets
The Boys From Brazil > The Spy Next Door
The Boys From Brazil < Fun Size
The Boys From Brazil < Bedtime Story
The Boys From Brazil > Don't Look Now
The Boys From Brazil < Gone with the Wind
The Boys From Brazil > Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
The Boys From Brazil > The Detective
The Boys From Brazil < A Scanner Darkly
The Boys From Brazil > Metropolis
The Boys From Brazil > The Spanish Prisoner

Final spot: #1783 out of 2528.

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