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"An Army that Can't Bite, Can't Fight" was the British Army Dental Corps' motto during World War II, and to prove that, John Henderson has crafted a movie without any teeth.
Based on a book based on a true story, it tells the tale of a sergeant and private frustrated at being kept out of the fight. They go AWOL, making their way to the English Channel and then Nazi-occupied France. Bickering as they go, they stumble through enemy lines, accidentally destroy a rail line and inadvertently aid a British raid on a radar facility. Battered and bloodied, they arrive back only to face court martial.
Kenneth Cranham's and Leo Bill's performances throughout are as weak as a thrice-used tea bag and veterans like Derek Jacobi are sleepwalking. There are some chuckles, but not enough to save the film. Look for it to be repeated ad nauseam come the next PBS fund-raiser.