The Great Escape (1963) This perennially popular WWII POW-camp adventure is the least traumatic war film you can imagine – a precursor to Hogan’s Heroes, the film is peopled with glib movie stars doing outwit-the-Nazis schtick, and exhibiting the Allies’ we-can-take-it wherewithal. So, it’s not emotionally demanding – Steve McQueen suffers time in solitary with a mitt and baseball, James Garner manages to scrounge everything but the kitchen sink in the middle of nowhere, Charles Bronson’s Tunnel King digs toward the fences despite his claustrophobia, etc.
The Godfather (1972) What could be better? It’s even easier than usual to overlook the dark themes at the heart of Francis Ford Coppola’s seductive, well-loved masterpiece when you’re under the weather. So what’s left: mighty Greek-style tragedy played out in soft shadowy umber, period tweed and melodramatic Sicilian-ese, by arguably the best cast ever assembled for a major Hollywood film. And it’s nearly three hours.
The Da Vinci Code (2006) Crowd-pleasing, eternally topical conspiracy-theory fun and games, in which Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Ian McKellan essentially recite plummy thickets of ancient history (and heavy strands of complete blarney), all of it pleasantly amounting to little beyond but well-read nonsense. Accompaniment: tea with brandy.
