A acting ham and his Warsaw troupe become embroiled in a treacherous and complicated espionage plot when the Nazis invade Poland and it becomes apparent that their resistance leader is collaborating with the enemy. Mel Brooks's remake of To Be or Not to Be follows Ernst Lubitsch's exceptional classic very closely while mining familiar territory for laughs but is still a very funny film thanks to an earnest sense of humor and a spirited cast (with Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, and Christopher Lloyd standing out) even if its serious scenes don't really work.
*** out of ****
