Zev Guttman (Christopher Plummer) suffers from dementia and memory problems. His wife Ruth died a week before. He walks out of the nursing home on a mission to hunt down Auschwitz Blockführer Otto Wallisch who is hiding under the name Rudy Kurlander. His son Charles (Henry Czerny) tries to track him down. Zev is helped by his wheelchair-bound partner Max Rosenbaum (Martin Landau) from the nursing home. They are both Auschwitz survivors who lost their families. There are 4 recorded Rudy Kurlanders who emigrated after the war. After two wrong Rudys, Zev finds the son of the third Rudy, John Kurlander (Dean Norris), who is a neo-Nazi.
It's a little slow going in the first half. It could be something else especially with Plummer acting the hell out of this. I thought it could be a misunderstanding or an illusion of his destroyed mind. I would have preferred a delusional quest. The first two Rudys are problematic for me because anyone sneaking into the country with false identity would have false proof to back him up. The movie gets much better with the arrival of Dean Norris. I would extend his part of the movie and eliminate the first two Rudys. Some may be uncomfortable with the use of Auschwitz as a device for a mystery thriller. I don't dismiss that complaint especially for people with personal connections. There are no doubt some problems with this but there are also intriguing sections.
It's a little slow going in the first half. It could be something else especially with Plummer acting the hell out of this. I thought it could be a misunderstanding or an illusion of his destroyed mind. I would have preferred a delusional quest. The first two Rudys are problematic for me because anyone sneaking into the country with false identity would have false proof to back him up. The movie gets much better with the arrival of Dean Norris. I would extend his part of the movie and eliminate the first two Rudys. Some may be uncomfortable with the use of Auschwitz as a device for a mystery thriller. I don't dismiss that complaint especially for people with personal connections. There are no doubt some problems with this but there are also intriguing sections.