When 89-year-old Bernie Jordan ‘escaped’ his nursing home without supervision to attend the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, headlines greeted his return. Britain loves a hero — especially one from the Second World War — so when Bernie got back to sleepy Hove he’d been dubbed ‘The Great Escaper_’,_ in a nod tothe similarly titled prisoner-of-war breakout classic. A film adaptation — here starring Michael Caine as Bernie and Glenda Jackson as his wife Rene — seemed nailed on.
Refreshingly, director Oliver Parker — who previously tackled broader World War II nostalgia with his 2016 film adaptation of beloved TV show Dad’s Army — has created an unfussy drama relatively lacking in sentimentality (aside from an occasionally unsubtle score). Bernie is a proud Englishman, but jingoism is kept to a minimum. In one scene, Bernie stands at the grave of a soldier he’d befriended on the boat across the Channel back in June 1944. All he can say is, "What a waste" — intoned by Caine in sad, believable anger. Sporadic flashbacks detail that harrowing journey and its grim conclusion, as well as Bernie and Rene’s wartime meet cute and blossoming romance.
An unfussy drama relatively lacking in sentimentality.
John Standing’s kindly, alcoholic RAF veteran who befriends Bernie is the best of a solid supporting cast, though Victor Oshin’s turn as a young soldier who lost his leg in Helmand impresses, alongside Danielle Vitalis’ care worker Adele. It’s Caine and Jackson’s film, though. Caine was apparently tempted back from acting retirement when he read the moving scene in which Bernie meets some German soldiers. On film, we can see why — the affecting sequence is staged and played with devastating care and veracity.
In her final role, the late, great Jackson is full of lively mischief — even when the film ultimately strikes a more poignant tone. When Bernie and Rene discuss life, survivor’s guilt, and approaching death in their care home, viewers may be surprised to find grit has got into their eye.