Toronto

Glorious 39

 (U.K.)

By DENNIS HARVEY

A Talkback Thames production in association with Magic Light Pictures. (International sales: the Works, London.) Produced by Barney Reisz, Martin Pope. Executive producers, Sara Geater, Lorraine Heggessey, Jane Wright, James Atherton, Andy Ordonez, Sheryl Crown, Laurie Hayward. Directed, written by Stephen Poliakoff.
 
With: Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Julie Christie, Eddie Redmayne, Juno Temple, Jenny Agutter, Hugh Bonneville, Charlie Cox, Corin Redgrave, David Tennant, Jeremy Northam, Christopher Lee.
 

An English aristocrat-cum-film actress stumbles upon high state secrets just prior to WWII in "Glorious 39," a costume would-be suspenser just as solemnly silly as that nutshell plot summary sounds. Unconvincing tale features Romola Garai -- whose breakout turn this won't be -- running from an assassination conspiracy that might be all in her pretty head. A little more imagination from Stephen Poliakoff's direction might have made his script's improbabilities easier to take. But alas, this plush, silly exercise is as straightforward as it is flatfooted. Widescreen lensing will be wasted on what's likely to be mostly smallscreen exposure.

Anne Keyes (Garai) is the adopted daughter of conservative MP Alexander (Bill Nighy), raised by him and gardening-obsessed wife Maud (Jenny Agutter) in lavish digs along with the couple's biological children, Ralph (Eddie Redmayne) and Celia (Juno Temple). While Celia is a debutante and Ralph works for the Foreign Office, daring Anne is a thespian of second-lead ingenue roles.

At dinner one night, family friend Hector (David Tennant) rails against Prime Minister Chamberlain's appeasement policies toward Nazi Germany, which so far have kept England out of the war. He says Hitler can't be trusted to honor any non-interference pact, and that the nation must fight to save itself -- hopefully with hawkish Churchill as the new PM. These vigorous sentiments are coolly taken in by another guest, the father's mysterious acquaintance Balcombe (Jeremy Northam), a likely secret-service man.

A couple of beats later, Hector is dead, an alleged suicide. Meanwhile, Anne accidentally finds hidden Victrola records containing incriminating conversations between government operatives, hinting at shady plots to silence appeasement critics.

Anne urges actor pal Gilbert (Hugh Bonneville) and her lover, Lawrence (Charlie Cox), to give the discs a listen. You'll never guess who become the next "suicides." But Anne's fears for her own life are dismissed by the family, who suggest she's simply neurotic, being an actress and all. (At one point, it's also proposed she was abandoned at birth by gypsies, which would surely explain a penchant for fibbing whimsy.)

At over two hours, "Glorious 39" has time enough to take its nonsensical premise -- which might have passed muster had it been made back then, starring Joan Crawford or Norma Shearer -- very slowly and seriously. This does tamp down the unintentional laughs, but doesn't make the goings-on any more credible.

Prolific stage/tube talent Poliakoff's first bigscreen effort since 1997's poor "Food of Love" is smoothly paced enough to avoid tedium. Still, the pic desperately lacks the atmospherics or needed suspense, leaving us with glamorous nonsense of a stripe seldom seen since Melanie Griffith infiltrated Nazi Germany in "Shining Through." Despite historical truth in the premise -- there indeed were secret attempts to suppress anti-appeasement forces up to Britain's last prewar minute -- "Glorious 39" persistently comes off as gaga romance-novel intrigue.

Britain's Garai ("Atonement") runs the emotional gamut from cocktail-hour A to rubber-room Z, but her game exertions are fully undermined by script and direction. Supporting thesps, including Julie Christie as a haughty aunt, are barely exercised in pat roles.

Production values are glossy.

Camera (color, widescreen), Danny Cohen; editor, Jason Krasucki; music, Adrian Johnston; production designer, Mark Leese; costume designer, Annie Symons; art director, Caroline Grebbell; set decorator, Andy Grogan; sound (Dolby Digital), Chris Ashworth; supervising sound editor, Lee Walpole; assistant director, Edward Brett. Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentations), Sept. 14, 2009. Running time: 129 MIN.