Powerful Nonsense - Well Crafted Stupidity--spoiler

Rating: 3/10 (8 September 2009)

A Tarantino effort equates to a movie of extreme violence but usually with a purpose. This time he tried too hard and creates a mess. It starts off well; the opening scenes are well crafted and gripping. But with such a poorly written screen play, the film can do nothing more than free fall into a near slap stick farce. Brad Pitt is likable but his acting is at best average. He seems to be allowed to do whatever he pleases. Use any accent you want because this film is not a serious work of art anyway.
Now understand this is a work of fiction. However, let's not be so open minded that our brains fall out! Sorry that I must spoil the movie a bit to make the point that fiction does not give you license to ignore all plausibility. A poor teenage Jewish girl who lived under a dairy farmer's house escapes to own and operate a valuable theater in Nazi controlled France in less than 3 years! She has a black boyfriend. Hitler, Goring and Gommels are coming to a premier at her theater with hardly any armed guards and little security. A black man can pile a mountain of flammable film on stage behind the screen and not one German check it out even though the most important men in the German government are coming. The black man can just walk around and lock all the doors without anyone caring. American men who can barely speak understandable English pretend to speak Italian and can walk right in with 20 pounds of dynamite strapped to their legs. Incredible war-ending-deals can be made by short wave radio in mere minutes. Hitler and his most trusted advisor's are all killed and the deal is honored. Why bother just shoot the German, Pitt could do no wrong in the movie. Ugh. No rules, no plausibility, no story, not even a good revenge angle for the Jewsih girl that was dying to be told. Instead a lame death for her and a poorly crafted ending with the Scarlet Letter theme.
Yet like all Quentin Tarantino movies, many scenes are artfully done and can be very entertaining. Still powerful because it generated so much after viewing debate. The effort here just seems wasted.