With Michael Caine and the late Glenda Jackson leading this light but delightful story, The Great Escaper is an easy film to like.
With a nod to the POW classic in its title, it adapts the true story of a D-Day veteran who left his retirement home in Sussex to hop across the Channel with a bunch of other old fellas to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the June 1944 Normandy landings.
Although Caine’s Bernie Jordan doesn’t really “escape” as such, he does take off without telling the increasingly concerned rest home staff while supportive Irene (an endearing Jackson, who made this a few months before she died) covers for him.
Caine’s Bernie, a former Royal Navy officer, travels by bus and ferry, making friends en route with John Standing’s rather posher RAF vet, Arthur, and dispensing life lessons to a young soldier in distress.
Caine and Jackson reunited after starring in The Romantic Englishwoman 47 years ago and their heartfelt performances and palpable affection give a touching picture of a deeply loving couple who have been married since the war. It’s a pity their love story is depicted in misty-lensed flashbacks that border on saccharine.
Caine was too young to serve in World War II but he was a British army veteran of the Korean War and starred in many WWII movies in his younger years, including A Bridge Too Far and The Battle of Britain, and – as a German officer – in the terrifying The Eagle has Landed (which also starred Standing). So, there’s something poignant about now watching a quieter Caine represent the humble, brave men who sacrificed their formative years eight decades ago.
Bernie’s resolution may be a happy one, but having announced his retirement last October, this film is also Caine’s last campaign. Stating he couldn’t hope to go out on a better-received film, it’s a fitting final performance in a long and illustrious career.
Rating out of 5: ★★★★
The Great Escaper directed by Oliver Parker is in cinemas now.
