The incredible true story of Pinchas Tibor Rosenbaum rates, unfortunately,
as a footnote in history despite his remarkable achievements. During WWII,
Rosenbaum risked his life in the face of terrible evil, to save the lives of
others by impersonating a Nazi officer. In many ways, Rosenbaum's willingness
to put himself in harm's way will remind audiences of
Schindler's List,
but as the harrowing film
Walking with the Enemy shows, the danger he
faced was even greater.

Directed with big budget panache by Mark Schmidt,
Walking with the Enemy does justice to a tale that demands to be
told, even as the story struggles to get off the starting blocks. Rising star
Jonas Armstrong, who some may recognize from BBC's
Robin Hood series, plays
Elek Cohen (a Rosenbuam analogue, basically), a Hungarian Jew who stood against
the Nazi invasion of Hungary in 1944. Initially captured and sent to a labor
camp with his family, the hot-headed Elek escapes, only to return to discover
everyone he knew is gone or dead. It's then that he makes the decision to
rebel, joining a group that offers government protection certificates to Jews
that we know the Nazis won't honor, but are all the people have to comfort
them. Elek also finds love with Hannah (the excellent Hannah Toiten), who aids
in the burgeoning rebellion.

It's while distributing these certificates that Elek begins to cross paths
with leaders in the Nazi regime, ultimately acquiring an S.S. uniform and using
the power it gives him to wage war from the inside. Using his newfound
authority, Elek brazenly confronts Nazi soldiers who are rounding up and
killing Jews. While some of these situations border on the hysterically
preposterous, such as his frequent run-ins with an especially brutal officer,
there's nevertheless a great deal of tension when he's undercover. The
ever-present threat gets worse as Elek is forced to make increasingly
questionable ethical choices, often choosing between blowing his cover and the
rescue of innocents. As the war begins to wind down and the Nazis grow more
violent in their desperation, Elek finds it difficult to maintain his sanity
with chaos erupting everywhere.

Armstrong, who has a role opposite Tom Cruise in
Edge of Tomorrow
coming up, captures Elek's determination and growing paranoia. He also finds
good chemistry with Toiten in the few quiet scenes the two get to share.
However, Kenny Golde's script spends too much time on subplots that may be
interesting to read about, but don't necessarily make for an entertaining film.
Proving that he can't say no to any role, Ben Kingsley turns up as Hungarian
regent Miklos Horthy, who tried and failed to negotiate an armistice with the
Soviet Union. Kingsley's veteran presence is a nice touch, but those scenes
hold little value to Elek's story which is compelling, morally complex, and
worthy of our complete attention.
NOTE: For more on
Walking with the Enemy, check out my interview with Jonas Armstrong
here.