‘The Exception’

Director: David Leveaux. Cast: Lily James, Jai Courtney, Christopher Plummer. Rating: R for sexuality, graphic nudity, language and brief violence. Note: At Harkins Shea. Great Fair Bad Good Bomb introducing them, revealing them and seeing how they play out.

That’s particularly true when word arrives that Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, will join the kaiser for dinner. Eddie Marsan’s portrayal is a kind of twisted genius, curious and scary, making Himmler a weird, evil little man capable of great danger, as his chilling choice of dinnertime conversation proves.

Several elements come together in the end, which plays more like a caper film than what’s gone before it, and is less satisfying than what leads to it.

While Courtney and James have an undeniable chemistry, Plummer is the clear highlight here. How he manages to balance the character as a kind of lovable old coot and a short-tempered bigot is something to see. And worth seeing. Americans. Along the way, Kent begins to understand more about the men and learns to look beyond the stereotypes.

The film is quite strong when it comes to creating a sense of place; you feel like a visitor in the tiny kitchens and museums they step into (the movie was filmed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and small Rushville, Neb.). This is a project obviously driven by great affection, but that is offset by more heavy-handed moments and some clumsy detours into cuteness. Kent’s truck mysteriously breaks down, for example, which essentially forces him on this road trip.

Still, the movie’s warmth and sincerity are effective. So is the interplay between Kent and Dan. Bald Eagle died last year at age 97 after filming was completed, and his disarmingly natural performance jumps off the screen. He really gives the movie a heart.