All the Queen's Men

Husky men in drag may be good for a sketch-comedy guffaw, but as the basis for an entire movie the idea always seems stretched way too thin, as in this inane World War II comedy that stars Matt LeBlanc (Friends) and transvestite comic/actor Eddie Izzard as the leaders of a unit of inept Allied soldiers dressed as assembly-line German factory working women on an undercover mission to steal an Enigma decoding machine. Aside from its antiquated and loudly trumpeted cross-dressing gags, the movie ill-advisedly tries to be an earnest mix of sub-par slapstick and sensitive moments about the horrors of war and lifestyle discrimination (Izzard is reunited with an old boyfriend who's had a rough time in Berlin). Director Stefan Ruzowitzky badly miscalculates this jumbled-up tone, winding up with such superficial sincerity and feeble humor that there's little left to do but simply wonder at the plot's many gaping holes. Not recommended. (R. Blackwelder)