Synopsis
Max Manus is a Norwegian 2008 biographic war film based on the real events of the life of resistance fighter Max Manus (1914–96), after his contribution in the Winter War against the Soviet Union. The story follows Manus through the outbreak of World War II in Norway until peacetime in 1945.
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Cast
- Aksel HennieMax Manus
- Agnes KittelsenIda Nikoline 'Tikken' Lindebrække
- Nicolai Cleve BrochGregers Gram
- Christian RubeckKolbein Lauring
- Julia Bache-WiigSykesøster Liv
- Kyrre Haugen SydnessJens Christian Hauge
- Eirik EvjenSigurd Jacobsen
- Knut JonerGunnar Sønsteby
- Jakob OftebroLars Emil Erichsen
- Pål Sverre HagenRoy Nilsen
Recommendations
- 75
New York Post
This rousing, fact-based Norwegian movie covers an unusual subject -- the resistance movement in that country during World War II, whose best-known depiction came in "Edge of Darkness," a 1943 Hollywood adventure movie starring Errol Flynn as a stalwart fisherman outwitting the Nazi occupiers. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
The film is always engaging, from the boyish horseplay of the young innocents to the bravado shown in multiple encounters to the involvement of the revered king in exile to the final toll taken by the increasingly ruthless Nazis. - 70
Variety
This engaging second feature from "Bandidas" duo Espen Sandberg and Joachim Roenning combines artistic ambition and commercial appeal with a well-paced action-adventure approach. - 70
Village Voice
An epic by Scandinavian standards, Manus's period re-creation is lavish-but the too-polished rental décor doesn't create a living past. - 60
The New York Times
Buffed to an expensive-looking gloss and dressed in period-perfect finery, Max Manus has an old-fashioned sincerity that entertains without engaging. - 50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Max Manus (the title role is played by Aksel Hennie) feels so familiar that audiences watching it are likely to experience a numbing sense of déjà vu. Nothing seems particularly fresh or involving. - 40
Time Out
Despite the subtitles, it's basically a slice of formulaic Hollywood-style mythmaking, writ large and woefully empty.
