Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Beng Garcia I kept on watching the movie over and over, from the movie-house till vcd till DVD. Brings you back in time. Gallantry was brought back to life. The determination, conviction and all other characteristics that make a man a man. Melanie and Michael make a perfect match in the movie. The chemistry was perfect which made me feel like a part of the movie each time I watch it.

SimonJack As a late movie about World War II, "Shining Through" has the intrigue and action of a good mystery. It's an espionage film based on a fiction novel by Susan Isaacs. But the plot of this film is so incongruous that it's hard to believe to begin with. That's often okay with fiction, except that in this case the viewer can't shake the sense that the story is preposterous. The acting is okay, but there just is way too much in this movie to give it any sense of plausibility. After all, most of us watching a film of this nature like to think that it really happened or could have happened. With no special qualities in it, "Shining Through" is just a so-so film. Hollywood tried to sell this one with a considerable cast of three big male names – Michael Douglas, Liam Neeson, and John Gielgud, but such a cast could only raise a ponderous, disjointed, confusing plot to six stars. This movie is supposed to be a romance as well, however strange. That defies all the traditions and we can see why those make sense. As with so many modern films made about WW II, the settings and scenes seem phony and staged. This film has much glitz and glamour, and lots of action, but little coherence and substance.

richievee This film was nicely staged, probably with a hefty budget, but in terms of wartime intrigue, it falls as flat as a Pfannkuchen. Melanie Griffith is inept in her role as a would-be spy in Nazi Germany. With her character's stupidity and embarrassingly unconvincing command of the German language, she would not have lasted a half-hour before being discovered by the Gestapo and sent back in a boxcar to Hollywood. Michael Douglas's performance was good during the first part of the film, but his "heroic" rescue of Linda Voss was implausible in the extreme, almost laughably so. It was a miscalculation to have Linda narrate the story in a long series of flashbacks, as we in the audience were consigned to feel no threat whatsoever to her survival. And why do the native Germans speak in (subtitled) German for much of the film but then revert to English in other parts? That strains our suspension of disbelief. Worst of all, a spy thriller should never be as boring as "Shining Through." I had trouble staying awake, which surely is not a good sign.

Robert J. Maxwell Melanie Griffith is am ambitious, quick-witted, German-speaking, young secretary at the Office of Strategic Services who is enlisted by her boss, Michael Douglas, and sent to Berlin to work for high-ranking Germans and uncover secrets concerning their V-2 rockets now being built at Penemunde. She winds up as a nanny in the employ of the sympatico Liam Neeson. She doesn't fall in love with Neeson, though the usual dramatic trajectory might seem to call for it, because her heart already belongs to Michael Douglas. He's too dumb to realize it. Berlin is full of agents and double agents. One of the latter plugs Griffith. She's rescued by Douglas and carried in his arms across the Swiss border with the details of the V-2 program concealed in her glove. Douglas and Griffith marry and live happily ever after.None of the principals gives a bad performance but Neeson is perhaps the most interesting of the characters. His devotion to the party is suspected of being lukewarm and he's under suspicion by the Gestapo. Alas, he isn't on screen much and disappears completely as the climax approaches.Most impressive is the evocation of the early years of the war. The make-up strikes us as garish. Berlin seems dark and ominous. The fashions and accouterments seem appropriate.Griffith isn't bad. At least she's not embarrassing. Except for "Mulholland Falls," it may be her best performance. She's supposed to have learned German at her Jewish father's knee and have the accent of "a butcher's daughter," but she doesn't. She has an accent, but it's strictly an American accent. Speer's name comes out at "Shpear" instead of "Shpair." Diverting at first viewing, but not really worth seeking out.