Deathwatch

During WW I, a battalion of British soldiers stumbles through a field of fog, losing their orientation. When they come upon extensive German trenches, they kill the few German soldiers still in it except for one and take over the trenches. Obviously, they don't heed the lone soldiers warning about the place, telling them that they will turn on each other if they stay.

They are under command of one Cpt. Jennings, who orders them to defend the trenches until their own troops catch up with them. But they are unable to make contact with anyone, with only white noise coming through the radio.

The place is eerie, to say the least, and the fogs surrounding everything never lifts. They soon realize that they are stranded, not knowing where they are and unable to call for help. But their Captain insists on staying, no matter how uneasy everyone is.

Sometimes, at night, the place is surrounded by battle noises but whenever they get ready for the oncoming attack nothing happens and the noise dies down again. In the confusion that follows their trying to clean out the tunnel system by throwing explosives inside, the Captain accidentally shoots one of his own men - the first sign of them turning on each other.

On another occasion, a patch of fog, this one rather red than white, befalls one of the soldiers who is then finally ready to desert his post. When he does, he is - as deserters will be - shot by a companion. His other fellow soldiers try to help him, but he gets swallowed up by the ground before they can get to him.

This then causes the group to finally split apart, some wanting to leave immediately, the Captain still wanting to stay and establishing his role as the leader and one rather crazy man hollering at whatever is out there with him to come and get him. When the Captain orders him to cease his nonsense, he gets stabbed to death for his efforts. As predicted, they all turn on each other, with only one of them (the youngest) having any sense of moral left and only shooting out of self defense.

When all but himself are dead the earth swallows the bodies along with him into...the ground? ...hell? When he comes to he is surrounded by decaying corpses and in the distance sees his entire battalion, seemingly unharmed, including himself. When he stumbles outside he runs into the one remaining German soldier, now suddenly fluent in English when before he was only able (willing?) to communicate in French, telling the survivor that he is free to go as he was the only one trying to help him.

It all ends with another battalion happening upon the trenches and aiming at the German soldier, who lifts his head to face the camera, smiling.

The film relies mostly on the dreary and bleak atmosphere and a pretty decent cast, convincingly portraying a scared, desperate group of soldiers.

It is a bit confusing, though.

5/10

Man on a Ledge

Do you know the feeling when you come home late in the evening and you are still so hyper (from whatever....harmless things) that you are not ready to go to bed. Happened to me two nights ago and I had to fill the void between hyper and eyes falling shut (experience has taught me this is a rather short period) with something to watch that didn't require too much thinking. So, I picked Man on a Ledge, because with a title like that....

It is about a man. He is on a ledge.

It is set in New York City, which is a plus in my book (pretty aerial views onto cabs and onlookers). The lead actor...Nick Cassidy/Sam Worthington...not so much. So he was a cop that ended up in prison for allegedly stealing a diamond, which he strongly denies. He escapes and the next thing we know he is on this ledge with a woman (Elizabeth Banks) left with the task to talk him back into the hotel room he was staying in. We also meet a few more characters/actors. Some of them we like - Jamie Bell (the brother), Kyra Sedgwick (a reporter), Edward Burns (a cop).

That was pretty much the end of my first sitting with Man on a Ledge. Bedtime.

Next sitting (last night) - there is of course much more to the story than we initially learned. Nick maintains that he did not steal the diamond off of the big bad wolf - in this case Ed Harris (David Englander) - and to prove his innocence/get him back he hogs all the media and police attention while his lil (hot) bro and his (equally hot) girlfriend break into Englander's vault to actually steal the diamond in question. After some nailbiting action (well, not really) and the discovery that most cops are dirty it turns out that the diamond is not there!

It was at this point that I once again called it quits for the night. So the burning questions (Did he or did he not steal the diamond originally? Where is the stupid diamond??? Is Edward Burns a good or bad guy?) will have to wait.

Third (and final) sitting: Happy end! Hurrah! Bad guys get taken down, Ed Burns is not one of them, former colleagues cheer Nick, a lot of shoulder patting, lil bro proposes and they all lived happily ever after. Way too neat, if you ask me.

2/10

Retreat

Woah! Billy Elliott grew up handsomely, didn't he?

In this, Jamie Bell is army private Jack that ends up on an island in rather rough seas (off the British coast). He is all bloody and unconcious when a married couple finds him and takes him in.

The wife, Kate, has recently had a miscarriage and she and her husband Martin are staying at the island to work through their marriage troubles, brought on not only by the loss of the child but also by the fact that Martin apparently didn't want it in the first place because he didn't feel ready for it.

As if the situation weren't bad enough, Jack tells them a horrific tale of a virus outbreak that affected, and virtually wiped out the population on the main land. He makes them board up all windows and doors to stay as safe from the airborne virus as possible. Kate and Martin are never quite sure about whether to believe Jack's story or not.

So we have a grieving couple locked inside a house on a remote island with a total stranger (armed, no less). So far so average.

What pulls Retreat onto an above-average level is undoubtedly that it features three of the finest British actors of their generation. You have Thandie Newton as Kate, Cillian Murphy as Martin and the aforementioned Jamie Bell as Jack. The latter has the most interesting role of the trio and is consequently the most impressive one to watch.

The film itself is ok, with some nasty splattering of blood (the disease makes you practically cough out your lungs if you've contracted it) and a couple of nice twists towards the end.

Not bad at all, despite its mediocre critical reaction.

5/10