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The titular pair (Kenny Doughty and Caroline Carver) are servants to the affluent Krauzenbergs (Martin Landau and Judy Parfitt), a Jewish couple forced into signing their wealth over to the Nazis to ensure their safe passage out of Germany. However, their servants are not Aryans, but a part of the Jewish resistance who see a pending dinner with top officers as an opportunity for assassination. The tension is supposed to build as Mrs. Krauzenberg continues to get snappy with the Nazi guests, but since the dinner takes place only an hour in, the outcome isn’t difficult to deduce. Soon enough, the couple finds themselves on the run, catching several trains, holding their breath at passport checkpoints, etc. with Heinrich Himmler (Danny Webb, who resembles a cross between Adolph Hitler and Bob Balaban, complete with mini mustache, goosestepping, the whole nein yards) in pursuit. If only the Benny Hill theme kicked in…

If there is a demand out there for more films concerning the Holocaust, it eludes me, and the fact that films of such poor caliber feel justified in taking such tragedy and transforming it into a vapid suspense film of sorts seems nearly insulting to those who suffered. Couple isn’t so much a work of exploitation as it is of obligation and, frankly, tedium, yet drama based on these events deserves much better. The fact that the film suffers in quality in addition to sincerity certainly doesn’t help. The cinematography and editing are incredibly stale, and the score is frustratingly bombastic. Landau, the only recognizable actor, barely emotes enough to earn his paycheck, and the same could be said for the entire cast. Either conviction or composition could have been enough to compensate for shortcomings in each other, but neither component registers in those departments. Simply put, there is not a single aspect of this movie, whether in production, performance, or principle, that manages to justify its very existence, and the fact that is a hackneyed Holocaust thriller makes it that much worse.

Daly wants to craft a triumph of the shrill, a melodramatic mish-mash that feels like a rather lazy bid for awards attention. No one ever said that every Holocaust picture had to be 'Schindler’s List,' 'The Pianist,' or 'Life is Beautiful,' yet 'The Aryan Couple' seems to want the same recognition without the effort of genuinely compelling storytelling or equally enthralling performances. No, John Daly wants to have his atrocity and eat it too, and that kind of Nazi party pooper may be the worst of all.

link directly to this review at https://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=11188&reviewer=409
originally posted: 05/12/06 07:51:48
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