i be amaze at the amount of praise that be heap on this movie by other commentator . to me it be rather a disappointment and especially the combination of historical fact and fantasy and the main character internal turmoil do not work at all ( in vonnegut book slaughterhouse five and even in george roy hill adaptation for the screen it do ) . credibility be often overstretched . too many question be leave open . do i miss some central point . or do i fail to spot the line that supposedly connect the dot . a boy call campbell and jr. and grow up in upstate new york . at home his father have many technical trade paper and one book . it have photograph of heap of dead body in it . the boy leaf through the book and his dad doesn not like his do that . what should this tell me . the family move away from upstate new york to berlin . bang . it be 1938 and the boy be a married man in berlin and a theater playwright . what kind of play do he write . in what language . be he successful . his wife be an actress and look glamorous . the parent move back to the usa and invite their son to do the same . he do not . why . because have grow up in germany he feel more german than american . because he be successful . because his wife be . because he like his life there . because he like the nazi . because he be just plain lazy and doesn not like change . don not ask me . possibly and the man just do not care and be not interested in politics and be a kind of an existentialist . he state that he be deeply in love with his wife . he speak of his republic of two ( mean he and his wife ) . there be little to no evidence prove his love for his wife in the movie and it much more seem a republic of one . on the request of an american agent campbell and jr. and agree to broadcast anti semitic nazi hate propaganda to american listener a a device for transmit encrypted message to american authority who read between the line . the crucial meeting with the agent on a berlin park bench be short and unexciting and anti climactic and the decision to play along come pretty easily with no explanation and the rise up to broadcaster seem to be uneventful and apparently fast . so now we have campbell and jr. and present himself over the air a the last free american . the scheme for transmit secret message be fairly realistic and exciting although one wonder what happen when campbell and jr. and really and honestly have to cough and hiccup etc . ( must have scramble the message terribly ) . anyway and the nazi lose and the wife die ( tour in the crimean for german troop i never hear such tour really happen on german front line in ww ii ) and campbell and jr. and say he go to the russian front but do not go and be capture by an american soldier who recognize his mug ( how come . ) and be drag to a sight see tour in auschwitz and be then release and resettle with the help of the crucial agent somewhere in the city of new york . and this be where the story really start bang . from now on it be like a short story by paul auster . it be 1961 and campbell and jr. and life in new york tenement a a have be and mourn the loss of his wife . nobody really care or do they . yes and somehow they do and and his neighbor offer some sort of distraction . auschwitz survivor . a painter . some american supremacist discover him and want him to be their figurehead . they even find his presume dead wife for him and or be she his wife . anyway and in the end campbell and jr. and call in at the israeli consulate and and they obligingly give him the big war criminal treatment and place him in the cell adjacent to adolf eichmann . he write his life story and and once this task finish and hang himself on the typewriter ribbon without get sooty the least bit . while i can see that there must be an issue of guilt and of loss and i just have the impression that the main character be a person who at all time be pretty indifferent to everything and hardly capable of love for anyone . so i find it difficult to sympathize for this looser who mourn his loss . amazingly and many reviewer focus on his status a a potential war hero and have put his reputation at stake for play the last free american . i assume accord to them this take a lot of courage . a a matter of fact and however and the movie suggest that by accept the assignment campbell create for himself a win win situation and a he would have be politically on the safe side no matter who have win the war . the danger of his be uncover never come up during the first part of the story . one might argue and that the whole story be a dreamlike fantasy and that nobody should bother with historical accuracy or a logical development of the story which explain everything . but even then it fail to make a point and primarily and i suspect and because the love affair in the republic of two fall completely flat . this be a pity and especially if you consider that the wife be play by sheryl lee and a talented and versatile and sensuous actress . she have much too little screen time and be force to use a ridiculous german accent . another somehow neglect aspect be the different text ( confession and broadcast and hidden message ) and but i guess this be largely unfilmable . maybe i should give the book a chance .