In 1943, British Intelligence, attempt to fool Hitler into thinking that they will invade via Greece rather than the logical choice of Sicily, by washing up a dead body on a Spanish beach with false papers. To do that, they have to locate a suitable dead body and then present it in such a way that the Germans believe it is an army officer, Major William Martin, carrying secret documents rather than a Welsh vagrant with fake paperwork.
This is a celebrated key moment in the Second World War that has been brought to the screen before in The Man Who Never Was (1956). That solid and pretty gripping account was based on a book by the man who ran the operation, Ewen Montague, here played perfectly by Colin Firth. This version is based on a more recent book by Ben McIntyre and, for the most part, it does the source material justice. The twists and turns of the story that, if it was fiction, would seem far-fetched, are well depicted with the pace really picking up when the plan is put into place.
Alongside Firth, Matthew McFadyen gives a career-best performance as Charles Cholmondeley, the co-originator of the plot and someone, largely because of his refusal to discuss the operation in later years, is often overlooked. Kelly McDonald is excellent as Jean Leslie who also joins the team when they use her photo to depict William’s girlfriend.
The one real issue with this film is the addition of a love triangle involving the three main characters, that I believe is complete fiction and does detract from the momentum of the main story. If there was to be a subplot, it would have been better concentrated on Mark Gatiss who plays Ewen’s louche and probably communist brother, or another member of the team, future Bond novelist Ian Fleming, nicely portrayed by Johnny Flynn.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10