'The Exception' Review: Jai Courtney, Lily James Star in Exceptionally Silly WWII Thriller

It’s a certainty that within any given calendar year, there will exist a small handful of films set during World War II whose plots involve resisting Nazis. Art house audiences seem especially fond of the sub-genre. Novelty tends to steer these stories. They’re filled with zookeeper’s wives, brave children who steal valuable books, and other souls whose courage stands as a beacon of hope amidst savagery.

“The Exception,” the latest of these, from Tony Award-nominated theater director David Leveaux (making his feature film debut), and written by Simon Burke (“Strike Back”), based off Alan Judd’s novel “The Kaiser’s Last Kiss,” is about a pair of exceptional exceptions indeed: the “good” Nazi and the Jewish housemaid who loves him.

If surface details were everything, this far-fetched (let’s also just call it insulting) scenario might be understandable, given that it features the extremely photogenic Jai Courtney (“Suicide Squad”) who meets the extremely photogenic Lily James (“Cinderella”), and instructs her to take off her clothes before knowing her name. (It’s Mieke, by the way, and stealth Judaism might not be her only secret; his name is Stefan and he’s a Nazi captain but feels sort of guilty about it.) She complies, and they have extremely photogenic sex.

Also Read: 'Cinderella's' Lily James to Cross the English Channel in 'Young Woman and the Sea'

Later, it happens again, only this time, in the name of equality, it’s James’s turn to make Courtney go full frontal. And when the leads are this attractive, it’s almost enough to make you believe that they could easily be the titular exceptions, really hot people thrown together as weirdly forbidden wartime romantic partners who then pair up for a crafty bit of subterfuge. Look, “Inglourious Basterds” was kind of implausible, too.

The rest of the story involves Captain Stefan being assigned safety detail for Kaiser Wilhelm II (a sly, amused Christopher Plummer, enjoying his often ridiculous dialogue) and his wife, Princess Hermine (Janet McTeer, making the most of her character’s desperate machinations to hold on to royal privilege). It’s 1940 and the former King is exiled in Holland, now under Nazi occupation, and there may be a British spy out to get him.

Watch Video: That Time 'Suicide Squad' Star Jai Courtney Chased David Ayer Around Set Naked

The morally conflicted Stefan is, furthermore, feeling increasingly unhappy about everything he’s chosen in life, including the time he was accomplice to the slaughter of an entire village of innocent Polish peasants: cut to a pile bodies so carefully arranged in a bloodless mass grave, and shrouded with hazy memory mist, that they appear decorative in the frame. He sheds one perfect tear over that one.

Mieke, meanwhile, is conducting clandestine meetings with a local minister, cleaning guns in her maid’s quarters, charming the Kaiser with her sweet ways, and deliberately compromising her real agenda by getting as naked as possible with a sexy Nazi. She’s busy.

With this many secrets and lies flying around, with the usual Nazi-themed life or death stakes at play, the second half of this story is inevitable. There will be danger, and there will be consequences, and there will be fighting with bad Germans. There will not, however, be much excitement surrounding any of it.

Also Read: Jesse Eisenberg to Play Nazi-Fighting Mime in 'Resistance'

Whatever nuance existed in the original novel, whatever detail regarding the complicated emotional existence of actual human beings, is reduced here to not-quite-suspenseful-enough plot points and an impossible forbidden romance that makes almost no sense. Leveaux’s competent direction makes sure every uniform button, table setting, and hairstyle looks just right, with no period detail out of place.

This is the kind of movie often referred to as “handsomely mounted,” for good reason, and these elements become the focus of a bored viewer. When the story is this awkwardly “off,” there’s always beautiful antique furniture to enjoy.

In a perfect moviegoing world, one in which every reasonable person had already seen all the films of Claude Lanzmann, digested their urgent moral lessons and, therefore, understood going into this kind of trash-adjacent melodrama that there were never any actual Nazis who were nice enough or sexy enough to ditch it all for love, “The Exception” might be the kind of silly spy spectacle of forbidden erotic thrills, square jaws, humpy flesh, Third Reich kitsch, and evil aristocrats groveling to murderers to keep their allowance.

But it’s not that world yet, clearly, or “punching Nazis” wouldn’t be a trending social media topic in 2017. Go watch “Shoah.”

13 Riskiest, Priciest Bets of Summer 2017 Movies, From 'King Arthur' to 'The Dark Tower' (Photos)

Summertime might seem like a pure cash grab for studios stagnant with awards hangovers -- but trust us, there are plenty of Hail Mary passes getting tossed all along the hotter months. Here's the TheWrap's tally of biggest gambles coming, from "King Arthur" to "Cars 3."
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King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
May 12

In a kingdom of Hollywood action stars, Charlie Hunnam is certainly among the fairest -- but he's largely untested in the marketplace, especially packing IP as dusty as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Combine that with the much-delayed release date and director Guy Ritchie -- whose last Warner outing, "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," was a visual feast and a lot of fun but failed to resonate worldwide -- and this is certainly risky business. Hopefully the studio can pull a sword out of stone on this one.

Warner Bros.
Snatched
May 12

It's been 14 years since Goldie Hawn graced the big screen, and she returns in an action comedy playing Amy Schumer's mom. The onscreen pair are irresistible in interviews and early promotional appearances, but this film does not have the Judd Apatow halo afforded Schumer on her debut "Trainwreck." The good news? Schumer is a huge star now, and while she did not write the screenplay here she seems to have infused the project with her brand of rivaling self-deprecation and empowerment. The bad news? Director Jonathan Levine has not been around since his underperforming YA project "Warm Bodies" in 2013. Time will tell if this comedy snatches an audience.
20th Century Fox
Everything, Everything
May 19

If "Everything, Everything" were on a roulette table, we'd be happy to put our chips down -- despite the fact that this is the first major outing for Stella Meghie (director of the SXSW gem "Jean of the Joneses") and a big test for internet-beloved actress/activist Amandla Stenberg. This interracial youth romance has grassroots potential with a Warner Bros. marketing budget.
Warner Bros.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
May 26

How do we solve a problem like Johnny Depp? It's no secret that he's had a terrible fun of box office luck. But that Captain Jack Sparrow costume has always been kind to Depp -- and a veritable cash machine for Disney. But it's been six years, and a hell of a lot of personal drama, since Depp played the swashbuckler. Javier Bardem lends some star power as an undead villain, but there's no telling if "Dead Man" has a pulse.
Disney
Wonder Woman
June 2

Warner Bros.' DC Comics universe has produced solid hits like "Suicide Squad" and "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," but they haven't performed as well financially -- or critically -- as Disney's Marvel universe. Can "Wonder Woman" right the ship?
Warner Bros.
The Mummy
June 9

Tom Cruise has an impeccable action-movie track record, but rebooting Universal's storied monster movie universe is a hell of a mission for a horror newbie. Sofia Boutella's menacing supernatural villain looked fantastic in early footage, though, and it features an action sequence with a zero-gravity escape from a crashing plane.
Universal
All Eyez on Me
June 16

Legendary rapper Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas 21 years ago. Given the strength of Universal's "Straight Outta Compton," it's encouraging to see another '90s hip-hop icon's life story on screen. Now we'll see if audiences get hype to the tune of "Compton"'s $200 million worldwide take.
Lionsgate/Summit
Cars 3
June 16

Yeah, yeah, Pixar has a bulletproof library of beloved animated films — but there’s something to be said for being the bridesmaid on a shelf of brides. The “Cars” franchise is that bridesmaid, and it's another summer sequel that has taken six years to sputter back to the big screen. Despite star voices from Owen Wilson and Armie Hammer, who really needs to buckle up for another adventure here?
Disney
Spider-Man: Homecoming
July 7

After Andrew Garfield hung up his red costume two movies into a planned trilogy, Sony teamed with Marvel to reboot Spider-Man once again. The new Spidey, Tom Holland, was a standout in his introduction in last year's "Captain America: Civil War," but audiences may tire of seeing a third Peter Parker back in high school. And director Jon Watts is untested with big-budget movies -- his last outing, "Cop Car," earned just $135,000.
Sony Pictures
Dunkirk
July 21

A big strand of the Christopher Nolan brand DNA is that the director is a massive earner — but divorced from the Batman franchise, the highly-sensitive and meticulous filmmaker might not deliver the same results. Especially with “Dunkirk,” a gravely serious retelling of WWII’s Battle of Dunkirk. Brief, starry glimmers of Tom Hardy and the screen debut of pop crooner Harry Styles aside, this Warner Bros. release is surely a box office battle test -- especially slotted in summertime.
Warner Bros.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
July 12

If anyone knows outer space as high art, it’s director Luc Besson — who is also a Queenmaker in the realm of female action stars (Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, to name a few). “Valerian,” however, has an astounding reported budget of $208 million and no bankable stars (sorry, Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne).
STX
The Dark Tower
August 4

Stephen King’s multi-book saga is one of the hottest properties surrounded by a powerful fandom — and the movie has languished in development for decades. After a few date shuffles and a promising show of footage at CinemaCon this year, Sony and MRC will finally birth the Idris Elba-Matthew McConaughey epic. But it has to work, and big, if planned film sequels and TV spinoffs are to follow.
Sony Pictures
The Emoji Movie

August 4

The tiny icons have made texting a lot more informal -- and universally understood across languages -- but is there really enough for a feature film? Sony will soon find out. Bonus points for serious placement partners in apps like Spotify, and getting Patrick Stewart to voice the very popular poo emoji.
Sony Pictures Animation

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Big bets, big budgets and potentially big payoffs in store as these movies hit the hottest months of the year

Summertime might seem like a pure cash grab for studios stagnant with awards hangovers -- but trust us, there are plenty of Hail Mary passes getting tossed all along the hotter months. Here's the TheWrap's tally of biggest gambles coming, from "King Arthur" to "Cars 3."

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