Aside from the sheer improbability of it all, the film works if you're interested in an offbeat psychological treatment of enemy combatants suddenly caught up in a life or death situation threatening both sides. There's no real life scenario I can envision in which a German submarine crew saves Americans from their own destroyed vessel, so you have to make that mental leap to follow the story. The meningitis plot challenges the captain of the German sub (Til Schweiger) and American Chief of Boat Nathan Travers (William H. Macy) to find a way out of their predicament in an honorable way. To his credit, the German commander must dissuade his own crew from attacking the survivors, while Travers has the near impossible task of bringing his crew home following the death of their own Commander (Scott Caan). The attack by the German warship was an interesting element, although one does get distracted by the fake looking torpedoes and depth charges used in the production. For a real intense submarine war story, you really need to see the 1981 German film "Das Boot", and even though 1957's "The Enemy Below", is not as compelling, it's certainly more realistic than this one.
Review of In Enemy Hands
