neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Statement
	Norman Jewison Michael Caine, Tilda Swinton, Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, Jeremy Northam, Ciarán Hinds, John Neville, Matt Craven 2003		All the best intentions, all the scenic locations and all the consummate thespian skills of Michael Caine, Tilda Swinton, Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates and Jeremy Northam don't make up for the false moments, the occasional tedium and the lack of coherence in "The Statement." Directed by veteran filmmaker Norman Jewison ("Moonstruck," "In the Heat of the Night"), this is a not-too-thrilling thriller about the pursuit of a French war criminal who's been on the run since the late '40s. Caine is Pierre Brossard, who was a Nazi sympathizer during World War II. In France under the Vichy Regime, Brossard collaborated with the German occupiers and was party to a massacre. He was never brought to trial, and has lived, quietly and anonymously, under the protection of an extreme faction of the Catholic Church. Suddenly, late in life, Brossard is under attack on two fronts. Driven judge Anne-Marie Levy (Swinton) and dedicated Colonel Roux (Northam) of the French army are pursuing him in an official investigation, while a team of unknown assassins is also after him. Brossard must go on the offensive. The message is valid: Never forget the evil of the Nazis. Sadly, the film's motivations and alliances are far too vague, and, with so many British actors playing French characters, the English accents are quite distracting.