All the Queen's Men
Encyclopedia
All the Queen's Men is a 2001 action comedy war film
. It was directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky
and stars Matt LeBlanc
and Eddie Izzard
. The budget was $15,000,000, but the film only earned $22,723 worldwide, yielding an approximate -99.92% return.
the British
army is attempting to retrieve an Enigma machine
from Germany
. Having failed in previous attempts they decide to send four men undercover to the factory that makes the devices, deep in Berlin
. Unfortunately the factory is populated entirely by women, and they only have men to send.
American
O'Rourke (LeBlanc) teams with British
transvestite Tony Parker (Izzard), genius Johnno (Birken) and the reluctant Archie (Cosmo). The four are sent to infiltrate the factory dressed as women.
Dropped in the wrong area, the team must first try to find their bearings. Aided by Romy, a sympathiser to their cause, they find their way to the factory. They manage to retrieve the Enigma machine, against the expectations of the British army. Just before they leave Germany, they realize they were tricked – the British government already had the device, but wanted to make the Germans think they were still after it. They were specifically chosen as the team most likely to fail. That they are about to successfully leave Germany with an Enigma machine would, in fact, destroy the usefulness of the machine, as the Germans would know it was stolen and switch to a different code system. Archie volunteers to be captured with the machine to allow the mission to "fail". After he is captured, the team retrieves him and all return safely to England, leaving the German with the impression they have all the Enigma machines and the British are still desperate to obtain one.
mentioned the film in his book Your Movie Sucks. He says it's "a perfectly good idea for a comedy, but it just plain doesn't work." Ebert also mentions the problem with the plot being about retrieving an Enigma machine
when "Anyone who has seen Enigma
, U-571
, or the various TV documentaries...will be aware that by the time of the movie, the British already had possession of an Enigma machine... The movie has an answer to it, but it comes so late in the film that although it makes sense technically, the damage has already been done."
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
. It was directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky
Stefan Ruzowitzky
Stefan Ruzowitzky is an Academy Award-winning Austrian film director and screenwriter.-Early life:Ruzowitzky was born in Vienna...
and stars Matt LeBlanc
Matt LeBlanc
Matthew Steven "Matt" LeBlanc is an American actor, best known for his role as Joey Tribbiani on the NBC sitcoms Friends and its spin-off Joey....
and Eddie Izzard
Eddie Izzard
Edward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime...
. The budget was $15,000,000, but the film only earned $22,723 worldwide, yielding an approximate -99.92% return.
Cast
- O'Rourke - Matt LeBlancMatt LeBlancMatthew Steven "Matt" LeBlanc is an American actor, best known for his role as Joey Tribbiani on the NBC sitcoms Friends and its spin-off Joey....
- Tony Parker - Eddie IzzardEddie IzzardEdward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime...
- Archie - James CosmoJames CosmoJames Cosmo is a prolific Scottish actor, with numerous credits in film and television since the late 1960s and Cosmo is still currently acting. Cosmo was born in Clydebank, Scotland, the son of actor James Copeland...
- Romy - Nicolette KrebitzNicolette KrebitzNicolette Krebitz is a director, actress, model and singer. She is often credited as "Coco" in her creative works.-Life and work:Nicolette Krebitz made her film debut at age eleven...
- Johnno - David Birkin
- Aitken - Edward FoxEdward Fox (actor)Edward Charles Morice Fox, OBE is an English stage, film and television actor.He is generally associated with portraying the role of the upper-class Englishman, such as the title character in the film The Day of the Jackal and King Edward VIII in the serial Edward & Mrs...
Plot
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
army is attempting to retrieve an Enigma machine
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Having failed in previous attempts they decide to send four men undercover to the factory that makes the devices, deep in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Unfortunately the factory is populated entirely by women, and they only have men to send.
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
O'Rourke (LeBlanc) teams with British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
transvestite Tony Parker (Izzard), genius Johnno (Birken) and the reluctant Archie (Cosmo). The four are sent to infiltrate the factory dressed as women.
Dropped in the wrong area, the team must first try to find their bearings. Aided by Romy, a sympathiser to their cause, they find their way to the factory. They manage to retrieve the Enigma machine, against the expectations of the British army. Just before they leave Germany, they realize they were tricked – the British government already had the device, but wanted to make the Germans think they were still after it. They were specifically chosen as the team most likely to fail. That they are about to successfully leave Germany with an Enigma machine would, in fact, destroy the usefulness of the machine, as the Germans would know it was stolen and switch to a different code system. Archie volunteers to be captured with the machine to allow the mission to "fail". After he is captured, the team retrieves him and all return safely to England, leaving the German with the impression they have all the Enigma machines and the British are still desperate to obtain one.
Reception
Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
mentioned the film in his book Your Movie Sucks. He says it's "a perfectly good idea for a comedy, but it just plain doesn't work." Ebert also mentions the problem with the plot being about retrieving an Enigma machine
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
when "Anyone who has seen Enigma
Enigma (2001 film)
Enigma is a 2001 British film about the Enigma codebreakers of Bletchley Park in World War II. The film, directed by Michael Apted, stars Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet. The film's screenplay was by Tom Stoppard, based on the novel Enigma by Robert Harris...
, U-571
U-571 (film)
U-571 is a 2000 film directed by Jonathan Mostow, and starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Thomas Kretschmann, Jon Bon Jovi, Jack Noseworthy, Will Estes, and Tom Guiry...
, or the various TV documentaries...will be aware that by the time of the movie, the British already had possession of an Enigma machine... The movie has an answer to it, but it comes so late in the film that although it makes sense technically, the damage has already been done."
External links
- All the Queen's Men at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...