Did You Miss Me?

Seven years after he disappeared with the whimper that was Hollow Man, Paul Verhoeven has returned with what may be his best film. His haters — those who thought Basic Instinct was misogynistic or homophobic, or who didn’t see the irony in Starship Troopers (“It’s spiritually Nazi, psychologically Nazi. It comes directly out of the Nazi imagination” — Washington Post) — aren’t likely to appreciate his latest: a slam-bang indictment of anti-Semitism and barbarity in which a Jewish woman and a Gestapo officer fall in love.

Though it’s critical, Black Book is no message movie. It’s a first-rate thriller. And, like most of Verhoeven’s films, it’s erotic, outrageously violent, and deeply twisted.

Read the rest of my Black Book review here, on Stop Smiling's website.

Comments

[Noam Sane]

You know, I enjoyed Starship Troopers as a big dumb action movie. I didn't psychoanalyze. I just enjoyed the giant bugs. It's just a fun movie.

Hollow Man, on the other hand...