FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
TWO MEN WENT TO WAR
Britain, 1942: While other young men are going off to fight the Good War, young Leslie
Cuthbertson’s (Bill) assigned role is to dentistry. His commanding officer intones, "An army that
can't bite, can't fight." Tall and gangly, he's like the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, but
with fewer smarts. Walking by the arsenal, he notices the door ajar, enters and is caught
red-handed with a grenade by Sergeant Peter King (Cranham), an imposing officer with a
perpetual scowl. The grenade pin snaps, testing both men's mettle.
Like the young man, King wants to serve his country in battle, but has been denied seeing action
because of his age. King takes matters into his own hands by ordering Cuthbertson out of bed to
march with him out of the training camp. With guns and a bag full of grenades, King’s goal is to
personally invade Nazi-controlled France. Their adventure lightheartedly begins when they first
must explain why they are the only two soldiers on a train, and then continues to a coastal
village, where they must steal a fishing boat, avoiding the low tide and the attention of an
overly-solicitous young woman.
The film ricochets from comedy to robust war film. The eventual crossing is one of the most
suspenseful scenes I’ve seen in some time. Although the hapless duo is predictably depicted (they
behave like a dominating father and a rebelling son in no time), their adventure is quite
compelling. Far from an anti-war film, Two Men is more in line with In Which We
Serve (1942) than Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). (Even Winston Churchill makes
an appearance.) Only the ending is trite, with Churchill’s chief intelligence advisor (Jacobi)
coming to the men's rescue by delivering a grandstanding speech. The time period is handsomely
recreated, much like it was in the similarly set Enigma (2001). But because of its
consistent tone, Two Men is a more entertaining film. Thoroughly amicable, it is like tea
in the afternoon - something to lift the spirits. Kent Turner
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