The Frame

Well, if the point is that everybody has ulterior motives and can be expected to both betray and be betrayed, then I got that. Main character Ellis is a Jewish woman hiding from the Nazis during World War II; when she’s approached with the opportunity to join a group of Jews escaping out of Nazi territory, she seizes it. However, the escape turns out to be a trap, and Ellis is the only survivor. Back in Nazi territory, she joins the Resistance, and takes on the task of infiltrating the Nazi headquarters via seducing the captain. However, no one is who they seem, and virtually every alliance and friendship is reversed, sometimes reversed again. Generally, I really like stories with a lot of twists, but the cumulative effect here makes it nearly impossible to care about any of the characters, even Ellis. There are a lot of things to like about it–Carice van Houten’s performance as Ellis, for example, is great and she did all she could to counter my growing apathy with the script. Still, as a whole, it just didn’t impress me as much as I’d hoped, and there were several moments that just felt indulgent on director Paul Verhoeven’s part.
Above Average