Black Book

8/10. Saw this on March 18 at the Odeon Panton Street in London.

There are many who all but dismiss the movies Dutch director Paul Verhoeven made while working in Hollywood. They might admit that RoboCop and Total Recall were good, but they'll always insist that he ruined everything with the excesses of Basic Instinct and Showgirls.

I, however, enjoy Verhoeven's particular brand of blockbuster, so I was a little disappointed when, after Hollow Man, he fled back to Holland to continue his career. But I shouldn't have worried because Black Book -- his first Dutch movie since 1983's The Fourth Man -- is proof that Verhoeven's still going strong.

The story of a Jewish woman who joins the Dutch resistance during World War II and goes undercover to spy on the Nazis, Black Book has the energy and pace of a golden age crowd-pleaser, yet it depicts the horrors and humiliation of war with a contemporary frankness. It also boasts a terrific lead performance from Carice van Houten, who deserves nothing less than international stardom.