Come What May August Diehl, Olivier Gourmet, Joshio Marlon. Directed by Christian Carion. Rated R. Now playing at Regal Village Square.
French filmmaker Christian Carion seems to have a knack for finding sentimentality in the midst of warfare. He did it in his Oscar-nominated 2005 World War I drama Joyeux Noel, and he does it again with Come What May, a sleepy, slow-moving World War II drama about the millions of French citizens who were displaced by the German invasion in 1940. In particular, Come What May focuses on the residents of one small French town attempting to make their way to safety as the German army marches across the French countryside. Among them are German resistance fighter Hans (August Diehl) and his young son Max (Joshio Marlon), who've been hiding out in France since Hans' anti-Nazi activities were discovered.
As Hans and Max get separated, the movie detours into a team-up between Hans and a marooned British soldier (played by The Americans' Matthew Rhys) and explores the crisis of conscience that the town's mayor (Olivier Gourmet) suffers about whether he's led his fellow residents astray. Despite the war going on around them, none of the events feels particularly urgent, and the best Carion can do for suspense is a couple of cheap fake-outs teasing the deaths of major characters. The movie has some nice quiet moments, but it lacks the emotional power necessary to make up for its slow pace. There are a seemingly endless number of movies about the miseries of World War II, and Come What May is never distinctive enough to rise above the crowd.
