The Exception is a new drama set in World War II, starring Jai
Courtney and Lily James as two people on opposing sides of the war. Despite
their contrasting duties and allegiances, they find love with each other at the
worst possible time.
First, I must acknowledge that I’m not a huge Jai Courtney
fan. I typically find him to be a very boring performer to watch. Also, with
starring roles in films like Terminator: Genisys, A
Good Day to Die Hard, and Suicide Squad, he doesn’t have the
best track record in terms of picking solid projects. So I have to admit, I
went into The Exception carrying this prejudice and not expecting much.
As it turns out, I am happy to report that my assumptions were wrong. I was pleasantly
surprised by how totally okay The Exception is.
It does start out rough. The biggest problem I had with the
film is with its opening act. The first half hour of The Exception really
seemed to be in line with what I had feared. We spend a great deal of time
right at the start of the movie with Jai Courtney’s
playboy-Nazi-Officer-with-a-heart-of-gold character, Brandt. It’s made clear
that we should be sympathizing with him for being a bit less of a Nazi than the
other Nazis he works with. Understandably, this just doesn’t play right.
Setting aside my personal distaste for Jai Courtney, as an audience member I
found it really difficult to learn to care about this character. It’s pretty
hard to love him, and identify with him, and root for him to win… despite him
being a Nazi officer. As the film goes on and shifts its focus slightly, I came
to appreciate the characterization they attempted for Brandt. Regardless,
though, starting a film off by instructing the audience to sympathize with a
Nazi is not the best move.
Brandt is assigned to be the personal bodyguard for bitter former
German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II (Christopher Plummer). The Kaiser’s castle is
rumored to be under surveillance by an English spy, who may or may not secretly
be housemaid Mieke (Lily James). She and Brandt start an illicit affair, and
suddenly The Exception gets genuinely interesting. Not only do Lily
James and Christopher Plummer give excellent and multi-layered performances,
but their characters’ complicated who’s-lying-to-who plotlines and complex
motivations really get the movie going. It’s now interesting that Courtney’s
Nazi guard is easy-going enough that he might compromise his mission for the
safety of the woman he loves. Despite his character’s disgusting morality, it’s
fascinating to watch Plummer monologue as a man jealous of Hitler for ruling
with the iron fist he wishes to exert. Although the star-crossed lovers plot is
not the least bit new, when set against a backdrop this complex, it does become
really investing. By the end of The Exception, I was legitimately
wrapped up in the drama, and excited to see where the plot would turn next.
That being said, it is hard to ever fully surrender to the
suspense of a fully fictional story set around actual historical events you’re
familiar with. It’s an intense spy thriller storyline, filled with talk of
planned assassinations. As audience members in 2017, however, we know these
plans won’t happen, or at least won’t succeed. It’s a typical trap for
historical fiction, and unfortunately it does occasionally slow down The
Exception.
Overall, I did rather enjoy the film. Although it takes off
on an incredibly rocky start, The Exception definitely picks up
speed as it keeps going, and becomes a pretty engaging costume drama romance by
its end.
3 out of 5
