Summary
- Murder Company follows a group of soldiers during the daring D-Day invasion who are tasked with going behind enemy lines and gathering Nazi intelligence.
- Actors Pooch Hall, Kelsey Grammer, and Gilles Marini share personal connections to their characters and pay tribute to their families' wartime experiences.
- The film highlights the courage and unity of soldiers during a challenging time in history, emphasizing the importance of honoring their sacrifices.
The new World War II thriller Murder Company is now in theaters and on digital and VOD, just in time for the July Fourth weekend. The exciting new war film honors our veterans who once embarked on a daring and dangerous mission to combat Nazi forces with the help of a French spy. The film stars the timeless Kelsey Grammer alongside Gilles Marini (Sex and the City), Pooch Hall (Ray Donovan), and William Moseley (The Chronicles of Narnia). Murder Company is set during the D-Day invasion, as an unlikely group of U.S. soldiers muster the courage to cross enemy lines to take out a Nazi target.
"Huge shoutout to the men and women in the military who are fighting for our freedom because, as clichéd as it sounds, war is hell," Hall told MovieWeb when thinking about portraying military heroes on the big screen. "I don't envy those soldiers who are putting their lives on the line. I have a lot of friends in the military... So I just wanted to make sure I honored those soldiers by bringing as much authenticity to my character into the film."
A group of Allied operatives is sent on a covert mission behind enemy lines during World War II. Their objective is to infiltrate a Nazi stronghold and gather critical intelligence. As they navigate the dangers of occupied territory, they encounter unexpected resistance and internal conflicts that test their resolve.
Hall continued regarding his character's unique position in the Murder Company plot: "For the people who are unfamiliar with World War II, Blacks weren't really allowed to fight until we finally got an opportunity to fight. So in the beginning, you know, Blacks in the military would be doing cooking, working on cars, just, like, labor stuff, and they weren't allowed to fight. And then finally, they got an opportunity because soldiers were getting slaughtered." He added:
"In fighting for the country, I think that you put those differences aside, and you come together... And so, what I learned was to go into it with an open mind and to do my part as a soldier, and to get my brothers back. It doesn't matter the color of the skin. We wear the same uniform . And so us coming together was amazing for me, because I liked the fact that I get to tell that part of the story, where [my character] wasn't even supposed to be there."
Max features a plethora of fantastic war films from the past 80 years, and these are the very best you can stream now.
Kelsey Grammer Honors His Grandfather with Murder Company
Like the other actors, Kelsey Grammer found a personal resonance in Murder Company. "My granddad raised me," he explained. "My granddad served in World War II. So it just seemed like a natural sort of honorific to be able to walk into those shoes a little bit and play one of these characters. And my granddad... directly connected to this kind of story. A lot of these things did happen. I have another friend whose dad, an older friend of mine, whose dad did serve in one of these sort of murder companies." Grammer added:
And of course, this was a very, very difficult, challenging time for our country. And these men met the task, and I was honored to actually get to have a chance to play it.
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The Chronicles of Narnia star discusses his new World War II movie Murder Company with Kelsey Grammer and Pooch Hall.
On Portraying World War II Heroes: 'A Massive Honor'
Gilles Marini plays perhaps the juiciest character in Murder Company, and it's indeed a full-circle moment for the French actor, who plays the French spy the U.S. soldiers retrieve for help in assassinating the targeted Nazis. "My entire life, I was fascinated by World War II," explained Marini. "My grandma was involved during World War II, my wife's family was involved in World War II," Gilles told us, adding:
"Only 10 or 12% of the French population actually fought back the Nazis because it was kind of convenient for them. And I gotta tell them the way the story was. So those 10 or 12% went on and either got killed immediately by the Gestapo and the Nazis or just the collaboration... So, mad respect for these people who actually rose and did not become sheep, even if they lost their lives . And my grandma was that person. So for me, it is a massive honor ."
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For decades, filmmakers have tackled the sensitive and emotionally-driven theme of World War II in an array of noteworthy and poignant pictures.
Marini's character also happens to be a skilled sniper, which has a unique connection to his personal life. "My father was a sniper in the army in 1968, and so he taught me how to really use it," said Marini. "For a French person, this is unheard of. You don't have fathers teaching kids how to shoot... And I still have that weapon."