Melodramatic, historically inaccurate to the degree of slapstick comedy.
Not even the participation of venerable Sir Ben Kingsley could pull that one out of the mug.
The story and setting is fascinating and has not been covered extensively. Hungary is attempting to switch sides as the impending doom can no longer be ignored. Hungarian Regent Admiral Horthy turns his back on Hitler and secretly negotiates a surrender to Russia in exchange for being spared large scale destruction.
Hungary's alliance with Germany has so far spared some of it's Jewish population and until this point somewhat protected them from large scale deportations.
When Hitler learns of the impending "defection" of his Hungarian Ally he sends one of his most capable Special Forces Commanders (Otto Skorzeny) to Budapest in an attempt to prevent Hungary's departure from the Axis.
Skorzeny, that has won fame with his daring raid to free Mussolini from his mountain prison, true to his reputation manages to kidnap Horthy's son Miklos and uses him to successfully blackmail Horthy into staying put.
Hungary remains in the Axis, however Hitler makes sure that continues to be the case by sending German contingents to secure Budapest.
Horthy abdicates and goes into exile. Without his protection the Jews of Hungary now become subject to Eichmann's "Amt IV" (office handling Jewish affairs) and subsequently lead to mass deportations to various concentration camps.
Acts of heroism of the Hungarians saved many a life during that time period and with the Russians bearing down on Budapest the deportations eventually cease and Himmler actually begins negotiating with the Red Cross.
So you can see the historical setting and dramatic events lend themselves for compelling storytelling but "Walking with the Enemy" fails on virtually every "front".
The major historic characters involved then are shown and turned into caricatures. The usual stereotypical stiff, evil and inhuman template is applied to all Germans involved, the real personas completely ignored.
Haircuts are atrocious, uniforms while overall not bad looking are worn incorrect (peaked caps pulled down over the wearers ears good god) with conflicting rank insignia and major front line awards galore on SS-Soldiers doing policing work for local SD (the SS internal and external security service) administrations (who were lucky to have earned a sports proficiency badge).
A combination of brutality and ineptitude in the depiction of German forces which belie the complex struggles of anybody that opposed them and insults the super human efforts of the Allies to defeat them.
The brilliant (and bloodless) operation of Skorzeny (the depiction of Skorzeny himself, a man with considerable intelligence and charisma, couldn't be further from the truth) is depicted as a raw, mindless and brutal takeover when it was anything but.
NOTE to directors/producers/writers: Depicting war criminals in a human light, showing that they are people and not mindless killing machines, makes them all the more terrifying! The narrative and dialogue overall is cheesy and unrealistic and reminiscent of a badly made soap opera.
They had all the tools, great locations, access to (halfway) accurate vehicles, uniforms and weaponry, a number of accomplished actors and decent special effects and they wasted them all.
Not a tribute to history or the agonizing journey of the Jewish People during the Third Reich.
Not even the participation of venerable Sir Ben Kingsley could pull that one out of the mug.
The story and setting is fascinating and has not been covered extensively. Hungary is attempting to switch sides as the impending doom can no longer be ignored. Hungarian Regent Admiral Horthy turns his back on Hitler and secretly negotiates a surrender to Russia in exchange for being spared large scale destruction.
Hungary's alliance with Germany has so far spared some of it's Jewish population and until this point somewhat protected them from large scale deportations.
When Hitler learns of the impending "defection" of his Hungarian Ally he sends one of his most capable Special Forces Commanders (Otto Skorzeny) to Budapest in an attempt to prevent Hungary's departure from the Axis.
Skorzeny, that has won fame with his daring raid to free Mussolini from his mountain prison, true to his reputation manages to kidnap Horthy's son Miklos and uses him to successfully blackmail Horthy into staying put.
Hungary remains in the Axis, however Hitler makes sure that continues to be the case by sending German contingents to secure Budapest.
Horthy abdicates and goes into exile. Without his protection the Jews of Hungary now become subject to Eichmann's "Amt IV" (office handling Jewish affairs) and subsequently lead to mass deportations to various concentration camps.
Acts of heroism of the Hungarians saved many a life during that time period and with the Russians bearing down on Budapest the deportations eventually cease and Himmler actually begins negotiating with the Red Cross.
So you can see the historical setting and dramatic events lend themselves for compelling storytelling but "Walking with the Enemy" fails on virtually every "front".
The major historic characters involved then are shown and turned into caricatures. The usual stereotypical stiff, evil and inhuman template is applied to all Germans involved, the real personas completely ignored.
Haircuts are atrocious, uniforms while overall not bad looking are worn incorrect (peaked caps pulled down over the wearers ears good god) with conflicting rank insignia and major front line awards galore on SS-Soldiers doing policing work for local SD (the SS internal and external security service) administrations (who were lucky to have earned a sports proficiency badge).
A combination of brutality and ineptitude in the depiction of German forces which belie the complex struggles of anybody that opposed them and insults the super human efforts of the Allies to defeat them.
The brilliant (and bloodless) operation of Skorzeny (the depiction of Skorzeny himself, a man with considerable intelligence and charisma, couldn't be further from the truth) is depicted as a raw, mindless and brutal takeover when it was anything but.
NOTE to directors/producers/writers: Depicting war criminals in a human light, showing that they are people and not mindless killing machines, makes them all the more terrifying! The narrative and dialogue overall is cheesy and unrealistic and reminiscent of a badly made soap opera.
They had all the tools, great locations, access to (halfway) accurate vehicles, uniforms and weaponry, a number of accomplished actors and decent special effects and they wasted them all.
Not a tribute to history or the agonizing journey of the Jewish People during the Third Reich.