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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 heroic ending of 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 value. However, it begins to go 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 made 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 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.