The Boys from Brazil

This fast-paced thriller, adapted from a novel by Ira Levin, centers on a battle of wits between the "Angel of Death," Nazi-war-criminal Josef Mengele ( Gregory Peck ) and his pursuer Ezra Lieberman ( Laurence Olivier ), a character loosely based on real-life Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal. In this far-fetched drama, Ezra must foil Mengele's plot to clone Hitler to produce hundreds of genetically identical young men, and have them raised in environments similar to that of the young Hitler in an attempt to produce a new Fuhrer. The Boys From Brazil is fast and slick and fun, marred only by a preposterous finale. The cast is excellent and gives excellent performances, especially Peck and Olivier who act their rather one-dimensional, melodramatic characters with great relish and energy. The film is compelling, if somewhat far-fetched in its elaborate and highly implausible elaborate plot complications. — Linda Rasmussen