RESISTANCE

In 1938, Marcel Mangel was 15 years old. By the time the war ended, he was 22. In 'Resistance', he's portrayed by a 36-year-old Jesse Eisenberg. It's fine, I get it, there aren't a lot of Jewish actors to choose from in Hollywood, so finding someone age-appropriate must have been impossible. ...I'll give you a second to think about that. Look, I'm not saying that casting an actor closer to Marcel's actual age would have greatly added to the film and the gravity of his accomplishments, I'm just saying... that casting an actor closer to Marcel's actual age would have greatly added to the film and the gravity of his accomplishments. I'm also saying that Jesse needed to be a little less Jesse and a little more Marcel. A lot more Marcel, actually.

'Resistance' is awkwardly framed by a 1944 Ed Harris General Patton addressing his troops to bring them the story of a heroic man - the film ending with a Marcel Marceau performance, one fans will know as his first major performance. Yes, it starts wrong and just gets worse from there. Throw in a sadistic Nazi desperate to have the charisma and on-screen punch as if Tarantino had written him, and a real-life character that no amount of research can corroborate that Mangel had any interaction with.

The film spends so much time moving Mangel from one place to another and having self-reflective moments with his co-stars that the film fails to really highlight his accomplishments or how he actually achieved them. Instead, it favours grandiose characters, weak attempts at tension, false love interests and incomplete arcs. Yet another case of when great stories happen to not-so-great filmmakers. Marcel Mangel and Marcel Marceau deserve better.

'Resistance' is available to rent on the Foxtel Store until the 11th July. It will be shown in select cinemas from the 22nd June, then available to rent from iTunes, Google Play, Sony (Playstation Network), Microsoft (Xbox Network), Foxtel PPV, Bigpond, Fetch & Quickflix from the 29th July.