‘Six Minutes to Midnight’ a satisfying WWII spy thriller

MOVIE REVIEW

“SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT”

Rated PG-13. At Landmark Kendall Square and VOD.

Grade: B+

Eddie Izzard, who also co-wrote the screenplay and co-produced, delivers a stoic, heroic and often fleet-footed performance as schoolteacher Thomas Miller in the notably Hitchcockian-lite World War II-era spy thriller “Six Minutes to Midnight.” After his predecessor (Nigel Lindsay) goes missing in August 1939, weeks before Britain declares war on Germany, widower Miller arrives at the real-life Augusta-Victoria college for German women at picturesque Bexhill-on-Sea in southeast England, where he must pass muster with the school’s sharp-eyed governess Miss Rocholl (Judi Dench).

He is first given some encouragement by the statuesque, physical training specialist Ilse Keller (Carla Juri), who was on the reserve swimming team at the Berlin Olympics. Keller tells him the school’s motto — “faith and perseverance” — in case Miss Rocholl should ask. She has taken the 20 or so girls out for synchronized exercise on a beach. We are told they are the “daughters and goddaughters of the Nazi High Command.” Heartless Ilse makes them swim in the sea every day, rain or shine. The girls’ leader is Astrid (Maria Dragus). Their frequent scapegoat is the small, dark-haired, pig-tailed Gretel (Tijan Marei).

Keller, who speaks German as well as English and had a German father, treats the girls well and is liked by them. Jim Broadbent is also on hand as Charlie, a jovial Bexhill resident, who runs a bus-for-hire business. The film delivers some familiar twists if you’re a fan of the genre, including an Augusta-Victoria event that is just a cover for spies meeting and plotting. Miller, armed with obligatory tiny spy camera, almost gets caught rummaging through Miss Rocholl’s desk. His bosses at Whitehall have reason to suspect the British people connected to Augusta-Victoria are traitors.

Cinematography by Chris Seager (“Game of Thrones”) captures the daunting and beautiful seaside cliffs (the film was shot for the most part in Wales). Director Andy Goddard (“Downton Abbey”) keeps the puzzle pieces moving along briskly. Comedian Izzard, who grew up in Bexhill-on-Sea, may have been inspired by the real-life Augusta-Victoria, which ceased activity in 1939. The actor gives Miller an edgy and playful manner and a mysterious core as a secret agent for British intelligence, running for his life around the rugged countryside. James D’Arcy is just as mysterious as Captain Drey, who rescues Miller from a police station cell. Celyn Jones is stalwart as Drey’s assistant Corporal Willis. Dench lends another layer of ambiguity as the young women’s dear friend and protector. The film reminds us how much we miss those iconic big, red phone booths aka boxes of Britain. While not equal to Hitchcock’s best — “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” “The 39 Steps,” “Notorious,” “North by Northwest” — ”Six Minutes to Midnight” is well done and a genuine pleasant surprise.

(“Six Minutes to Midnight” contains some violence.)  

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3rmJLOk