The latest Guy Ritchie flick “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” has a spine of true story to it, even if it does all it can to amplify a long-declassified World War II tale with enough dead Nazis to make “Inglourious Basterds” blush.
The result is a jauntily entertaining film but also an awkward fusion. Ritchie’s film, which opens in theaters Friday, takes the increasingly prolific director’s fondness for swaggering, exploitation-style ultraviolence and applies it to a real-life stealth mission that would have been thrilling enough if it had been told with a little historical accuracy.
In 2016, documents were declassified that detailed Operation Postmaster, during which a small group of British special operatives sailed to the West African island of Fernando Po, then a Spanish colony, in the Gulf of Guinea. Spain was then neutral in the war, which made the Churchill-approved gambit audacious. In January 1942, they snuck into the port and sailed off with several ships — including the Italian merchant vessel Duchessa d’Aosta — that were potentially being used in Atlantic warfare.
Lottery 'loser' boyfriend, 39, who is fighting his ex
American Express profits jump 34%, helped by jump in new customers, higher spending
Nicola Peltz cements the end of 'feud' with 'beautiful' mother
Start of Sen. Bob Menendez's bribery trial is delayed a week to mid
Iris Law puts on a very leggy display as she steps out wearing tiny grey shorts in West Hollywood
Samuel L. Jackson reunites with Pulp Fiction co
Olympic organizers unveil strategy for using artificial intelligence in sports
For the world's largest democratic exercise, one village's polling officers are all women
Jury selection for Trump's hush money trial could near a close
Nicola Peltz cements the end of 'feud' with 'beautiful' mother
NFL draft will include many Michigan men, maybe enough to break record set by 2022 Georgia Bulldogs
A man gets 19 years for a downtown St. Louis crash that cost a teen volleyball player her legs