All the Queen's Men is a comedy with some spots of meaningful drama. Taken as a whole, it isn't great cinema, but it tries some things seldom seen anywhere else, and it's great for the German/English speaker--nice, clean German without annoying subtitles! In the film four men are banded together as a comic "Dirty Dozen" divided by three. Each has a need: true love, meaning/valor in life, fitting in with a group, and being recognized in the limelight. Like Dorothy and friends, they get whisked into a mission with a singular purpose (ultimately, getting home) that leads them on a journey of self-discovery or self-repair.
The drag theme is part of the journey for all but Matt LeBlanc's character ("O'Rourke")...who should have had a more believable drag and gotten to know Krebitz (as "Romy") the same way the guys got to know Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot, as a woman. (ATQM has about the same comedic approach to the drag as the Billy Wilder classic.) However, while not as funny as Some Like it Hot, ATQM offers a more serious exploration of the other three men's sexuality than would have come out in Marilyn's day. Izzard plays his part ("Tony") as a drag queen without apology or guffaw. Cosmo (as "Archie") is motherly and never forced to play a stereotyped old woman. Finally, Birkin ("Johnno") switches from shy yet Apollonic boyishness into such a wonderful femininity that even if the script didn't ask about this loner character's sexuality, Birkin commands the question, and brings a little haunt into the film as a result. In fact, if there is a literary epiphany in this film, it is Birkin's moment with the women at the factory, although the Mutterkreuz and sing-along serve the same purpose for the others, just far more mechanically.
Beyond the characters themselves, a before-and-after bombing scene in Berlin is especially impactful--no pun intended, as is a confrontation with a particular German soldier and "Johnno". The balance of serious notes to comedy is about right: too bad the comedy just isn't higher caliber.
Interestingly, the viewer won't soon forget the wonderful cubist title graphics, which would have been fantastic on a retro fifties or sixties film, but are pretty fishes out of water stuck to the two ends of this period forties piece.
All the Queen's Men is not great, and not great comedy, but it comes with memorable pieces making it worth the watch.
The drag theme is part of the journey for all but Matt LeBlanc's character ("O'Rourke")...who should have had a more believable drag and gotten to know Krebitz (as "Romy") the same way the guys got to know Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot, as a woman. (ATQM has about the same comedic approach to the drag as the Billy Wilder classic.) However, while not as funny as Some Like it Hot, ATQM offers a more serious exploration of the other three men's sexuality than would have come out in Marilyn's day. Izzard plays his part ("Tony") as a drag queen without apology or guffaw. Cosmo (as "Archie") is motherly and never forced to play a stereotyped old woman. Finally, Birkin ("Johnno") switches from shy yet Apollonic boyishness into such a wonderful femininity that even if the script didn't ask about this loner character's sexuality, Birkin commands the question, and brings a little haunt into the film as a result. In fact, if there is a literary epiphany in this film, it is Birkin's moment with the women at the factory, although the Mutterkreuz and sing-along serve the same purpose for the others, just far more mechanically.
Beyond the characters themselves, a before-and-after bombing scene in Berlin is especially impactful--no pun intended, as is a confrontation with a particular German soldier and "Johnno". The balance of serious notes to comedy is about right: too bad the comedy just isn't higher caliber.
Interestingly, the viewer won't soon forget the wonderful cubist title graphics, which would have been fantastic on a retro fifties or sixties film, but are pretty fishes out of water stuck to the two ends of this period forties piece.
All the Queen's Men is not great, and not great comedy, but it comes with memorable pieces making it worth the watch.