How I Won the War

Incompetent Lieutenant Goodbody leads a group of recruits who grow to hate their commander. They train in a mock up of WWI trench warfare. They land on North Africa to battle the Nazis. The biggest draw is John Lennon playing a supporting character. It's a surreal anti-war dark comedy. Director Richard Lester uses various methods including breaking the 4th wall and doing a faux documentary. I am often reluctant to rate foreign comedies when half of it is lost in translation. In this one, the thick British accents and unknowable foreignness make much of it incomprehensible. Mostly, it's not that funny. The bigger war footage is recycled while there are some smaller action. There is an anti-war message but it's a muddle of outlandish surrealism. On its most basic element, it's hard to follow and not that funny.