Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley's early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch. Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career.
Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality (though using sex for several years); obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively – and simultaneously – complex and simple. Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich (e.g., her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot – culminating her doing nude (but unseen) work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc.)
As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance. A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life. Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone ("I'm a mechanic"), yet the symbolism is rich: he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy (is, in fact a virgin), and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well. The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense. Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable. What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is. A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played.
The scene between Josh and Jane (a wonderful, young Edie Falco . . . "You need a woman not a girl") is hilarious . . . real. But Hartley can't leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue over-and-over becomes frustratingly "arty" and annoying . . . until again it becomes hilarious. What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film (like kids in a perpetual "am not"/"are too" argument).
Hartley's weaves all of a small neighborhood's idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the "unbelievable truth" of the title is, yet no two people can agree (including our hero) on what exactly that truth is. A wonderful little movie with some big ideas.
7分。基于历史拐点的创作，实际上属于架空历史的剧作。从电影语言角度审视可圈可点，原著作者和导演大概希望对张伯伦这位颇具争议的历史人物做一种重新认识和评估。
感觉这个框架还是不太有发挥空间的那种，举个例子来说就是Paul意图暗杀希特勒那段，观众会紧张但又知道没必要紧张。
当所有人都能闻到战争时，它是不可避免的。能把平淡的故事拍成怀疑和恐惧的困局，历史是已揭秘的悬疑吧。Paul容易理想化狂热，Hugh is just Like A Puppy. 间谍活动约等于余情未了前任见面，打字员姐姐逐渐理解了一切。
设定突破了硬拗的极限，剧情极其无脑，表演超级浮夸
单看剧情我非常喜欢，俩男主谁会磕不到，但放在真实历史下还是片面的。
我们不能选择自己的时代，我们只能选择如何回应。
张伯伦的确延长了二战爆发的和平时间 历史修正主义 revisionist改变不了张伯伦相信多边主义 外交可以解决争端 英法退出历史舞台 打穷了苏联打富了美国
有一点真让希特勒说准了。但是，我们每个人只能打手里的这副牌，出于骄傲的僭越并不会让我们更righteous。
一个新视角下的张伯伦和希特勒。以往看到的内容大多总带着结果去看过程，上帝视角下都是成者王侯败者寇，但要理解到政客一定也是精算了当其时每一项抉择的沉默成本和机会成本
以前所看到过的历史表述，大都指责张伯伦，这部电影就道出了首相的良苦用心。战争的直接受害者都是平民百姓，不到万不得已时，绝对不是热爱民众的政治家的选项。此时此刻，战争容易而和平难，激怒纳粹容易而缓解其大规模的铤而走险难。利用外交手段尽量将战争延缓，为盟国争取宝贵的准备时间，这是张伯伦处在那一历史时刻的伟大贡献。
一个德国人想阻止政治收复丢失的故土的故事，理由是祖国会更强大，因此会导致日后的战争。理由逻辑如此搞笑，骗看片人无思考能力吗？
设定突破了硬拗的极限，剧情极其无脑，表演超级浮夸
说不上来哪里不对。一切似乎太过于轻而易举，而结论下得又过于草率。学院风格稳扎稳打确实没错，但好像就缺了那一点让人留恋的催化剂。这个结尾毁在了最后一句字幕上。
重新評價張伯倫，也算是近年趨勢；把推翻希特勒的希望寄託在納粹軍官窩裡反，聽起來就不太會有人相信吧，果然畢竟是虛構的，2022.02.13
22.02.22.Putin大帝宣布承认乌克兰两个共和国。历史重演
他没有资格杀掉希特勒，的确，希特勒在那时也是德国乃至整个欧洲问题的集中反映，现在大家都说自己是反法西斯了，那个时候不到万不得已谁又想撕破脸皮。历史终究不是一个个鲜明的观点和对立面。
此时看这部电影，时机刚刚好，剧情与现实相交映照，产生一种奇妙的历史幻觉。
Hoping is waiting for someone else to do it
比较平庸，拍得很努力，但是介于类型片和反类型之间，弄得结果有点问题。
可以7分吧，两个男主塑造还行，历史就不行了。
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