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As Good As It Gets

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The central problem with having a protagonist going lone against the enemy is that tension dwindles. ODESSA, "Organisation of Former Members of the SS" is an interesting idea for conflict for post-war Germany. It's a very capable film with all the ingredients of schoolboy chase and intrigue and some good dramatic sequences, and interesting locations. Filmed almost entirely in post-war Germany helped to create the right atmosphere. Jon Voigt is our lead and he convinces as the methodical German reporter infiltrating the nefarious network. Maximilian Schell is excellent as a former mass murderer.

THE ODESSA FILE is a low-key spy thriller of the 1970s, going for gritty realism rather than Bond-style thrills and spills. It has a little in common with THE IPCRESS FILE and much in common with the Nazi-hunting movies of the later '70s such as THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL and MARATHON MAN. Jon Voight is an unusual choice for the German journalist protagonist but he makes a good fist of the job and is remarkably convincing.The story sees Voight's steely reporter hunting for members of the secret Odessa gang, populated by former Nazis evading justice. This tale was taken from the headlines, based on a novel by Frederick Forsyth, and it also happened to be true; Odessa really did exist. The story that follows is overlong at times but generally compelling, especially when Voight's cover is blown in the latter stages and the peril builds increasingly. There's some nicely-drawn character work and one protracted fight scene which director Ronald Neame handles very well.

This thriller opens in 1963 with a brief prologue where we see Israeli intelligence officers discussing an Egyptian plan to launch a biochemical attack on Israel; the only thing the Egyptians require is a missile component being made in West Germany. The action then moves to West Germany where Peter Miller, a freelance reporter with an eye for a story, follows an ambulance only to discover it was just going to an old man who had committed suicide. The next day the investigating police officer gives Peter the old man's dairy thinking it might make a human interest story... it does far more than that though; it tells of how he had survived Riga concentration camp where he'd seen his wife killed at the orders of camp commandant Eduard Roschmann, the dairy goes on to allege that Roschmann is still alive having been given a new identity by an organisation known as ODESSA. Having read the dairy Miller is determined to find Roschmann and expose ODESSA; it soon becomes clear it reaches deep into the West German state and it isn't long before an attempt is made on his life. With few clues in Germany he heads to Vienna to see Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal; not long after that he is approached by Israeli intelligence; they have a plan to send him undercover into ODESSA; a dangerous task where exposure could mean death but success could destroy ODESSA.Most thrillers seem to be packed with action however this one keeps things tense with a feeling of almost constant danger; this means when the few action scenes do come they feel more intense. Jon Voight does a fine job as protagonist Peter Miller; it was good to have a thriller about Nazis where the hero is German; even if he isn't played by one! Maximilian Schell only has a fairly small role as Roschmann but he makes the character quite chilling due to the way he first denies having anything to do with the slaughter in Riga, then making out that it was nothing important then finally boasting of the greatness of the SS. The story is well told and kept me gripped from the moment we learnt the contents of the old man's dairy... just the time Miller got gripped by the story too! If there is a flaw it was the suddenness of the end and the way he managed to find Roschmann alone in a castle; still the story demanded that they be alone together for their final talk so that improbability can be forgiven. Overall this is definitely worth watching if you like your thrillers tense and don't demand nonstop action and special effects.

THE ODESSA FILE is filmed in authentic European locations which give the story an added touch of realism, the kind needed in this sort of espionage thriller. JON VOIGHT does an excellent job of portraying a journalist who comes across a journal vividly describing what happened at a Nazi internment camp during the last days of WWII. He decides to go on a personal hunt for the much hated man he believes caused the death of some 80,000 Jews (MAXIMILIAN SCHELL). In doing so, he also reveals another purpose that will come as a surprise at the story's conclusion.But first he searches for "The Odessa File," full of documents on a band of former SS German soldiers who are now operating a secret society of former war criminals who still hold firmly to their former beliefs. The plot thickens once he begins to tackle the assignment, pitted against members who want him out of the way lest their true identities be revealed.Not quite as brilliant as THE DAY OF THE JACKAL, it's a Frederick Forsyth thriller that deserves the attention of anyone looking for an intelligent, well-paced thriller that benefits from excellent cinematography and a good background score with some music courtesy of Andrew Lloyd Webber long before his big show biz fame. The action scenes are handled for maximum effect and the final confrontation between Voigt and Schell makes for a satisfying climax.