Invincible

In his first feature film in over a decade, '70s- and '80s-era “New German Cinema” wunderkind Werner Herzog (Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo) tells the tale of a very muscular Jewish naïf who travels from his shtetl in Poland to Berlin in 1932. Hired by canny cabaret impresario and mesmerist Hanussen (Tim Roth) to perform feats of strength on stage, Zishe (played by real-life Finnish athlete and non-actor Jouko Ahola)--who goes by the name Siegfried--is frustrated at hiding his true heritage under a blond wig to appease Nazi brownshirts, and one evening doffs his Aryan disguise, setting off a small riot. While his revelation makes Zishe a hero to the Jews, it undermines Hanussen's ploy to curry favor with Hitler's top henchmen, and Zishe eventually returns to his homeland, where the enlightened strongman warns of the emerging Nazi threat. Despite an entrancing turn from the ever-watchable Roth, as well as flashes of Herzog's old directorial magic, Invincible ultimately proves to be vulnerable to Ahola's lumbering performance, which is reminiscent of early Arnold Schwarzenegger. Still, it's a strong optional purchase. (T. Rich)