An almost cinematic masterpiece lacking connection and the true grandeur of this event.

Rating: 5/10 (3 August 2017)

This movie is just short of a masterpiece. It's failing is it's inability to build the suspense and anticipation in the viewer that it tries so desperately to achieve. The first time I saw the trailer I was mesmerized, "man i can't wait to see that movie." The second time, a little less. By the 4th and 5th time I saw the trailer with it's constant ticking of the clock and the attempted anticipating buildup at the docks, I felt like I no longer cared. In fact my son reacted in the same way. He also said, i'm not sure I really want to see this movie anymore, I'm kind of sick of all the build up in the previews that never seems to deliver any hint of what it's building towards. The whole movie has that feel. It's all about getting these boys home and there is a constant attempt to build up to something, that just really never arrives. They show the same scenes over and over, but from multiple different perspectives. I felt like I was watching a preview, a coming attraction, that never gets to the point. When I say the movie is a masterpiece, it really is, the cinematography is amazing. The actors, while they have very little dialog, are so authentic you feel like it's 1940. However, there is no back story on any of them and no main character, so there is no connection. This was I think an attempt to build on the theme of 400,000 nameless faceless individuals, but it leaves you disconnected from their plight. The attention to the clothing, the surroundings, all little details are amazing, but it all adds up to a few ships being sunk and a few planes being shot down viewed over and over from different perspectives. You do not get a sense of the overwhelming accomplishment this really was. Think about it 400,000 men having to be evacuated. You don't really see the enormity of it, you only see a few hundred, maybe a few thousand men, a few ships, there were over 800 in reality. The film fails to deliver the grandeur of the true historical event. As a result of all these failings, you never feel the anxiety the film is attempting to create, you never feel the sense of dread, despair, nothing. There is just no connection, just beautiful cinematography. A masterpiece without any direction, without any real connection. Too bad.