It’s 1942 and the Second World War rages across Europe. Pvt. Leslie Cuthbertson (Leo Bill) is in training to be an army dentist. He daydreams of life as a rifleman, trapped in classrooms learning to make partial plate dentures. One of his commanding officers, Sergeant Peter King (Kenneth Cranham), is a veteran of a handful of foreign conflicts and is considered too old to serve though he longs to find himself on the front lines again.
In this way, the duo bonds and hatches a scheme: Sgt. King writes a letter explaining themselves and posts it to the Prime Minister as the duo deserts their posts, each with a backpack filled with explosives. Their quest is to take the fight to the Germans, even if it’s just the two of them.
While the comedic elements are extremely understated—even by British standards—and the pacing dragged, there is a fantastic relief that this war movie is not about watching people step on landmines or get struck by artillery. The two army dentists trekking to the North of France has an almost Lord of the Rings feel, though deserters on a personal invasion of Nazi-occupied France with just a couple of backpacks full of grenades honestly seems a bit more fantastic than two halflings on a quest to destroy a magic ring in a volcano. The action on display was a little slow but well-choreographed and produced.
There was one issue that I just can’t get over: These two guys won’t stop yelling. They’re on the beaches of Normandy yelling. They’re standing next to a Nazi listening post yelling. They’re trying to sabotage Nazi rail lines but they’re still yelling. Needless to say, it cut into my suspension of disbelief. Fans of drama and people looking for a gentler war story will be impressed with Two Men Went to War, but people looking for comedy and compelling war action will be disappointed. Recommended.
Where does this film belong on public library shelves?
Two Men Went to War may strike you as a war film, but it is much more suited to drama and lite-comedy shelves. If you have a section for British Drama, this movie would fit right in.