Zwartboek (Black Book)

Dutch bad-boy director Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop, Basic Instinct, and Hollow Man) does a great job here with a twisted, clever, untold story of WWII espionage, betrayal, and desperation.

In Dutch, English, German, and Hebrew, all with English subtitles, this movie is fast and loose. It earns it's R rating for sex and violence. It is also quite long but there are few, if any, wasted, unnecessary scenes.

Carice van Houten, Tom Cruise's wife in Valkyrie, is the center of attention here from the beginning. Her family tricked and slaughtered she spends the rest of the story trying to survive and revenge them. And van Houten does all her own singing here. Impressive.

This fast-paced movie keeps one guessing as to whom the bad-guys are and are not. And then they keep changing, but credibly. If you like spy thrillers, this is a worthy entry. If you like WWII stories told from a point of view we Americans rarely get to see, this is a wonderful movie.

Watch this with someone who like skating on thin ice.