Eager to emphasise its historical credentials, Female Agents almost betrays itself with a heady mix of feminine glamour, bombastic action and slick espionage.
Louise (Sophie Marceau) is assigned to a near impossible task; the rescue of a British prisoner of war captured in Normandy and held by the Germans under tight security. The plan calls for an all female team so she enlists a group with enviable credentials – a seductive showgirl, an explosives expert, a prostitute and a communications specialist. So far, so straightforward, but then the Special Operations Executive gives the team a far more dangerous task in the shape of the assassination of the head of Nazi counter-intelligence.
This examination of the role of women in World War II soon falls to secondary importance to a glossy, stylish and speedy rush of explosions and double-dealings. Although more intrinsically plausible than the similarly themed Black Book, Female Agents possesses a clash of pace that doesn’t quite allow it to match Verhoeven’s gloriously unsubtle adventure. Although bold enough to expose the darkest undercurrents of WWII (which is particularly effective with some gruelling scenes of interrogative torture), Female Agents will struggle to appeal much beyond those who enjoy their war films with an added spice of glamour.
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