 Nashville  | 23 Jul 2017 1:22 p.m. PST |
Sometimes we find humorous errors in Movie reviews, Here is the passage: The soldier who scrambles over the gate and onto the beach is called Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) in the credits, but I don't remember hearing or reading his name. Mostly, I just thought of him as Our Boy, less because of his youth than because of the vulnerability communicated through Mr. Whitehead's slight figure and tangible physical performance, his small and large gestures and moves: the darting, panicked eyes; the nervous, abrupt gestures; the hunched shoulders. In time, Tommy is joined by other soldiers waiting and running and ducking on the beach, the most important played by the equally fine Aneurin Barnard and the singer Harry Styles. Well the reviewer can't understand how the fellow in the movie is never called "Tommy" by name in the movie itself but is designated as such in the credits. Well, of course as we all know Tommy is the generic name for the British soldier. Sort of a silly error to make in a major review of a movie about British soldiers. Billy and Johnny |
| 14Bore | 23 Jul 2017 1:26 p.m. PST |
Thats ok, he has probably seen a movie that a Britain calks a American 'Yank' and has wondered why he never met anyone named Yank. |
 StoneMtnMinis | 23 Jul 2017 2:00 p.m. PST |
In the script for the film/play the character will always be denoted by a name, in this case Tommy, and screen credits are based on script identification(name). |
| robert piepenbrink | 23 Jul 2017 3:05 p.m. PST |
I cannot recommend reading any of the American "elite" media outlets looking for evidence that they have no understanding of military history or traditions. It's too easy to be any sort of challenge, and takes time away from wargaming. |
 Virtualscratchbuilder  | 23 Jul 2017 6:28 p.m. PST |
Or maybe dialog mentioning his name ended up on the editing floor. |
| 79thPA | 23 Jul 2017 7:04 p.m. PST |
Hard to believe a journalist (sic) would make a mistake. |
| basileus66 | 23 Jul 2017 10:00 p.m. PST |
It is a honest mistake, being Tommy a name common enough to have been either the real name of the character or just the generic used to call the British soldier. |
| Vigilant | 24 Jul 2017 1:51 a.m. PST |
Better than the USA Today reviewer who bemoaned the lack of women and actors of colour! |
| Private Matter | 24 Jul 2017 11:48 a.m. PST |
I am frequently amazed at the lack of knowledge that I would dare say most folks have regarding military nicknames or nomenclature that we wargamera take for granted. As a reader of the "elite" New York Times, I was pleased to read their very positive review of the movie despite the error regarding Tommy. Attention from such elite rags may get more people to learn about the incredible saga that was Dunkirk. |
| Wargamer Blue | 25 Jul 2017 6:42 a.m. PST |
Did anyone else find the movie a bit dull? Enjoyed the airplane bits though. |
| Thomas Thomas | 25 Jul 2017 9:40 a.m. PST |
I suspect the reviewer did know that "Tommy" can refer to a generic Brit solider but just did not catch the odd use – in all ways it looked like a normal first name "Tommy Watkins" for instance. It does not imply a lack of historical knowledge or anti-military bias – to suggest that would be jumping to conclusions is perhaps the internet understatement of the year. But any excuse to bash the Grey Lady (speaking of nicknames)… TomT |
| Landorl | 27 Jul 2017 8:40 a.m. PST |
I do have to say that it took me a while to figure out that they were covering 1 day at the beach, 1 day on the boats, and 1 hour of the planes. It said that at the beginning of the movie, but I was thinking that it was referring to how long it took to get there. |
