The 12th Man | Telescope Film
The 12th Man

The 12th Man (Den 12. mann)

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After a failed anti-Nazi sabotage mission leaves his eleven comrades dead, a Norwegian resistance fighter finds himself fleeing the Gestapo through the snowbound reaches of Scandinavia.

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What are critics saying?

90

Village Voice by April Wolfe

Harald Zwart’s thrilling The 12th Man, based on the true story of a Norwegian soldier who escaped the Nazis in World War II, is a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart but also an unexpectedly tender adventure that is as celebratory as it is tense.

88

Movie Nation by Roger Moore

Wartime survival epics are a rich genre unto themselves, and with The 12th Man, Norway has one that ranks among the very best.

80

The New York Times by Teo Bugbee

The reward of Mr. Zwart’s attention to the unique details of this historical account is that Jan’s path to safety frequently shocks, offering scenes of defiance that are unfamiliar or unexpected. In a familiar genre, The 12th Man preserves the element of surprise by understanding its terrain.

80

Los Angeles Times by Noel Murray

The 12th Man is a polished crowd-pleaser, with a timeless message: Nazis suck.

80

Variety by Dennis Harvey

A stirring adventure by any standard.

70

The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck

The sort of suspenseful, old-fashioned war movie that should particularly appealing to older viewers, provided they don't mind reading subtitles.

63

RogerEbert.com by Glenn Kenny

When you’ve hired human actors to do nothing but sneer, shout, and shoot guns, their onscreen function can get ever so slightly monotonous. This is not the movie’s only reliance on commonplaces but it’s the most prominent.

63

Slant Magazine by Josh Wise

At 130 minutes, it isn't a short film, and its most intriguing elements, much like Baalsrud's rations, are in short supply.

60

Empire by David Parkinson

Baalsrud never claimed to be a hero and the emphasis of this gripping reconstruction rightly falls on the resourcefulness, courage and self-sacrifice of those who epitomised the spirit of resistance.

40

The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw

This extraordinary story has unfortunately been turned into a handsomely produced but laborious, drawn-out and dramatically inert movie.