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Shining Through (1992)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
3/23
3/23:
Melanie Griffith is a competent actress, but she can be easily miscast as evidenced in Shining Through.
At first, I thought it was Michael Douglas' movie, but he's barely shown much. Hence, it's all about Melanie Griffith
with a bit of help from him. I think he got sold by the idea of the heroic ending by carrying her to the Swiss border
while being shot multiple times which didn't leave me impressed anyway.
The biggest reason why the film was able to work is the high production values. However, it begins going south when
there's a lot of emphasis on the ability to speak the German language early on yet is discarded by the time everybody
lands in Germany. Also, there are many ridiculous scenes like Margrete turning out to be a double agent and Linda (Lina?)
running so fast across the city during the bombing. Modern running shoes, anyone?
It doesn't help when Liam Neeson has been downgraded; he played Oskar Schindler, for goodness' sake, in one of the greatest
movies of all time although it was released a year later. Another problem is his character, an SS officer no less,
developed a suspicion when he heard about the whereabouts of his servant years ago but eventually did nothing about it.
All in all, Shining Through isn't the worst picture of 1992, but Melanie Griffith, who admitted at the time that
she didn't realize the Holocaust happened, is too American to pass for a German.