It is good to see a really bad expensively made film occasionally. I watched it for Harrison Ford, who acted extremely well for Polanski in ' Frantic ' but gives a very indifferent performance here. He is dull, and it is not so surprising in a dull film. The love interest lacks any spark of reality or emotional conviction, and Lesley-Ann Down irritated me in not being able to push the film forward. They meet cute in a ' realistic ' Mayfair street in London, nearly get killed in an air raid and within minutes they are in love. Set in WW2 the best scene is on a plane where most of the men in it are cruelly shot down, and the bodily mutilation is described and also seen. The film is basically two things, a war film and a love story and the two do not gel; or anyway with the appalling dialogue which only Christopher Plummer as Down's husband miraculously gets right. As I watched it plod along I wondered why it was ever conceived or made. Part of the film is set in France with Plummer and Ford together, and the action takes over and no more real psychology is needed. I will say no more of why in the name of contrivance they are there. I had intended to watch Bela Tarr but chose this instead. A big mistake. I know I will never watch it again. For those who love cliches will no doubt have a different opinion. A 3 for the London scenes ( one actually in Bath ) and some of the special effects.
Review of Hanover Street
