Diplomacy

Arestrup and Dussollier are mesmerizing as they attack and parry, argue and counterargue. They reminisce about their lives before the war and wax poetic about their families - then engage in battle again.

A little supporting personality could have made the proceedings feel less like a smartly staged character study and more like a wartime drama.

Diplomacy will work for those who appreciate dialogue-based character films in which plot is of secondary importance.

Although we know what happens, Diplomacy keeps up the suspense and pulls off surprises as Choltitz's decision reaches its inevitable ending.

Its minor thrills come not from not knowing what will happen, but from watching the cagey choreography of two acrobatic minds.

If you've had your fill of tony World War II dramas, this probably won't renew your interest in the genre, but the leads are fine as usual and Schlöndorff succeeds in making the stagebound material feel reasonably cinematic.

Gripping little drama shows the fate of Paris in the hands of two men

Diplomacy induces pins and needles from the get-go and doesn't let up until the credits roll.

The drama is made interesting and more substantial as hidden facts about the German's situation are revealed, and his soldier's perspective honored.

You know, after all, what the end result will be, but "Diplomacy" is strong enough to keep the situation intense and important.

We know where this is going, or rather where it isn't; but the fun is in watching the negotiations unfold.

Expanded from Cyril Gely's stage play, this film remains finely focussed on a history-changing dialogue between two men on the day Paris changed hands from the Nazis to the Allies.